Thalavaipandi S, Maria Antony P

Reptiles And Amphibians | May 12, 2024

The first-ever sighting of the Yellow-green Catsnake was documented in KMTR, making it the species’ southernmost recorded location. Yellow-green Catsnake (Boiga flaviviridis) has a consistently solid yellow underbelly, a shorter tail, and a greenish-yellow color with faint black stripes on its back. It was originally described from Berhampur, Odisha, India, and was subsequently recorded from several other parts of India across the forested regions of Peninsular India. There are 37 species in the genus Boiga of which 17 species occur in India, of which seven species are known from the Western Ghats. B. flaviviridis and B. forsteni are the only two species known to occur in both forested areas of the Eastern and Western Ghats. The current distribution within the Western Ghats is limited to the southern parts and is known from only a handful of records. This present record can be considered as the first record from the KMTR with precise location and information about B. flaviviridis.