Indian Flying Snake

About the Indian Flying Snake

Chrysopelea taprobanica, the Sri Lankan flying snake or Indian flying snake, is a species of gliding colubrid snake distributed in India and Sri Lanka. It can glide, as with all species of its genus Chrysopelea, by stretching the body into a flattened strip using its ribs. The snake is known as "dangara dandaa - දඟරදන්ඩා" in Sinhala, due to its folding postures.

Chrysopelea taprobanica belongs to the genus Chrysopelea, which contains four other described species. Chrysopelea is one of five genera belonging to the vine snake subfamily Ahaetuliinae, of which Chrysopelea is most closely related to Dendrelaphis, as shown in the cladogram below:

The Sri Lankan flying snake is distributed in Sri Lanka and Peninsular India. population in Sri Lanka can be found in dry zone lowlands and parts of the intermediate climatic zones, including Polonnaruwa, Wilpattu National Park, Sigiriya, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Trincomalee, and Monaragala. This species was believed to be endemic to Sri Lanka until researchers recorded a few specimens from Andhra Pradesh (India) and found old museum specimens collected from India that are now assigned to this species. More recently this... Wikipedia →