Ptyas dhumnades

Big-eyed Ratsnake

過 山刀

保育等級: 非保育類

無毒

家族
黃頜蛇科 Colubridae, 台灣亞種 subfamily Colubrinae
最大體長
220 cm
台灣棲地分布
台灣全島海拔1800公尺以下,但是北部分布較多。
世界棲地分布
中/南中國(廣東,廣西,河北,河南,湖北,湖南,江西,江蘇,山西,陝西,四川,福建,雲南,貴州,甘肅),台灣。
外觀描述
Large snake; total length up to 220 cm. There are 11-16 (16 at mid-body) rows of scales, which are keeled around the vertebral line. Head is oval to slightly triangular, and moderately separated from neck; body is slender and tail is long. Eye is very large; iris is dark gray to black dappled dirty yellow to tan and pupil is round, black, surrounded by ring of dirty yellow. There is a well-developed supraocular and a ridge from eye to nostril. Tongue is large, gray against dark red, and fork tips are darker gray or even black. Upper head is usually olive gray to dark gray with narrow margins of black on scutes; the sides are lighter in color. There is a yellow to yellow gray stripe, involving two scale rows on the vertebral line, and from neck to a point beyond mid-body. The vertebral line is bordered by prominent black longitudinal lines, which also fade near mid-body; the lines followed ventrally by second less distinct longitudinal yellow gray line, then a narrower line of black, and finally a yellow gray line just above latero-ventral junction. Upper body is striped from neck to tail in the young. Ventral head and neck are white to gray. Ventral body is light anteriorly, progressively darker gray or blue gray posterioly, and tinged with dirty yelow. Anal scale is divided and subcaudals are paired and distinct due to dark borders.
生態描述
日行性為主,偶爾會在夜間行動。喜歡棲息在草原、林地和農田附近。食性頗廣泛,以魚、鳥、蛇、蜥蜴、青蛙、老鼠等為食。卵生。母蛇在春季或夏末產卵,每次產下一窩6 - 17枚卵;每顆卵大小約為3.6 - 4.5 * 2 - 3 cm。過山刀是一種警戒心很強且動作很靈敏的蛇,當遭到圍困的時候會快速變動方向試圖逃跑(很少有反擊行為)。
過山刀是亞洲最快的蛇,牠有一對發達的大眼睛,可以幫助牠尋找獵物。快速的行動能力在加上牠敏銳的大眼睛,導致人們很難觀察牠的生態行為,捕捉更是不用提了。
過山刀的肉被發現可以製為中藥,通常使用在痲瘋或是一些常見疾病中。
學名與俗名
Ptyas: 是一個有關蛇毒噴入男人眼睛的希臘傳說。
dhumnades: 根據"STEJNEGER (1907) 的推測 CANTOR 可能是指 Coluber dhumna (= Coluber mucosus "遊蛇"), 印度文則是“dhamin".
過山刀、台灣鼠蛇、烏梢蛇(大陸名)、烏鳳蛇、黃風蛇、大眼蛇。
相關連結
翻譯:周信甫