Tiny Night Snake

About the Tiny Night Snake

Ithycyphus miniatus is a species of mildly venomous snake in the family Pseudoxyrhophiidae. The species is native to Madagascar. I. miniatus is found in northwestern Madagascar. The preferred natural habitats of I. miniatus are forest and shrubland at lower altitudes.

I. miniatus is calm and reluctant to bite, but has a venom capable of causing severe pain and, possibly, extensive bleeding in humans. I. miniatus is small and nocturnal and preys on grey mouse lemurs and other small mammals.

The common name of I. miniatus in Malagasy is fandrefiala, and it is greatly feared by many rural people of Madagascar, who believe it is able to hypnotize humans with its gaze. I. miniatus was originally described and named by Hermann Schlegel in 1837.

Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ).... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Ithycyphus miniatus... Wikipedia →