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Malayan green whipsnake
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Ahaetuliinae
Genus:	Ahaetulla
Species:	A. mycterizans
Binomial name
	Ahaetulla mycterizans; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Ahaetulla mycterizans Link, 1807 ; Ahaetulla mycterizans Cox et al., 1998 Coluber mycterizans Linnaeus, 1758 ; Coluber nasutus Lacépède, 1789 ; Dryophis mycterizans Evans, 1905 ; Dryophis mycterizans Wall, 1908 ; Dryophis mycterizans Wall, 1921 ; Dryophis mycterizans Smith, 1943 ; Dryophis mycterizans Tweedie, 1950 ; Dryophis xanthozonia Boie, 1827 ; Dryophis xanthozonia Boulenger, 1896 ; Dryophis xnathozona Boulenger, 1896 ; Passerita mycterizans Günther, 1859 ; Passerita xanthozonia Smith, 1930 ; Tragops xanthozonius Duméril & Bibron, 1854 ;

Ahaetulla mycterizans, the Malayan green whipsnake^[3] or Malayan vine snake,^[1] is a slender arboreal colubrid vine snake found in Southeast Asia.

Etymology

The species name mycterizans comes from the Greek "mucterizo", meaning "I turn up the nose," in reference to the shape of the snout of the snake.^[3]

Taxonomy

It belongs to the genus Ahaetulla, one of five genera within the subfamily Ahaetuliinae. The relationships of Ahaetulla mycterizans to some other Ahaetulla species, and to the other genera within Ahaetuliinae, can be shown in the cladogram below, with possible paraphyletic species noted:^[4]

Ahaetuliinae

sharp‑nosed snakes

Ahaetulla

	Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla fasciolata

Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla mycterizans

Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla anomala

	Ahaetulla pulverulenta

Ahaetulla nasuta (paraphyletic)

Ahaetulla fronticincta

Proahaetulla antiqua

Dryophiops

broad‑nosed snakes

	Dendrelaphis

	Chrysopelea

Distribution

It is found in Western Peninsular Malaysia, Java and Sumatra of Indonesia,^[5] Singapore, Borneo, Thailand and possibly Laos up to elevation of 350 m.^[3]

Description and ecology

The Malayan green whipsnake is diurnal and mildly venomous. Occurs in primary and mature secondary forests near streams. The diet, like other whip snakes, consists primarily of frogs and lizards. These slow moving snakes often appear like vines amongst foliage and are hard to detect. The anterior part of the body can expand when threatened exposing the dark scales. It is often confused with the oriental whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina) but the former does not occur in disturbed areas or parks or gardens, especially in its distributional range of Singapore. The Malayan whipsnake can be distinguished from the oriental whipsnake by the former having larger eyes and the flanks lacking a thin yellow line. The former is also smaller (up to 1 m snout to vent length) as compared to the oriental whipsnake which can grow up to 2 m.^[6]

Very little is known about the ecology and natural history of this species.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Grismer, L.; Chan-Ard, T. (2012). "Ahaetulla mycterizans". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012: e.T191914A2014767. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T191914A2014767.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiæ. 10th Edition: 824 pp.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ahaetulla mycterizans at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 20 October 2014.
^ Mallik, Ashok Kumar; Achyuthan, N. Srikanthan; Ganesh, Sumaithangi R.; Pal, Saunak P.; Vijayakumar, S. P.; Shanker, Kartik (27 July 2019). "Discovery of a deeply divergent new lineage of vine snake (Colubridae: Ahaetuliinae: Proahaetulla gen. nov.) from the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India with a revised key for Ahaetuliinae". PLOS ONE. 14 (7): e0218851. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1418851M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218851. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6636718. PMID 31314800.
^ Miralles and David 2010. First record of Ahaetulla mycterizans (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae) from Sumatra, Indonesia, with an expanded definition. Zoosystema 32(3): 449-456.
^ Nick Baker (2014). "Big-eye Green Whip Snake". Ecology Asia.
^ Cox, M.J., van Dijk, P.P., Nabhitabhata, J. and Thirakhupt, K. 1998. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Thailand and South-East Asia. Asia Books, Bangkok.