Oligodon signatus
Authors/Creators
Description
Oligodon signatus (Ģnther, 1864) — Native.
Simotes signatus Ģnther, 1863: 250 (nomen nudum).
Simotes signatus Günther, 1864: 215, pl. 20, fig. F, F′. Syntypes (2): BMNH 1946.1.3.20 and 1946.1.3.25; Wallach et al. (2014: 503) noted that Smith (1943: 529) designated BMNH 1946.1.3.20 as lectotype, but Smith only mentioned that the type specimen is at BMNH. Type locality: “ Singapore ”.
Barred Kukri Snake
(Figure 19G)
Singapore records.
Simotes signatus — Ģnther, 1863: 350.— Ģnther, 1864: xviii, 215.—Theobald, 1876: 228.— Dennys, 1881a: 2.—Sclater, 1891a: 25.— Boulenger, 1894: 226.— Flower, 1896: 885.— Flower, 1899: 672.— Hanitsch, 1899: 12 (Botanic Gardens).—Ridley, 1899: 198, 208.— Boulenger, 1912: 150.— Hanitsch, 1912b: 16.— de Rooij, 1917: 125.
Holarchus signatus —Sworder, 1923: 64.
Oligodon signatus — Smith, 1943: 529.— de Haas, 1950: 557.—Tweedie, 1952: 6 (Thomson Road).— Tweedie, 1953: 48.—Tweedie, 1954: 109.—Tweedie, 1961: 50.—D.H. Murphy, 1973: 59 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).—Tweedie, 1983: 53.—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 54.—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 146.—K.K.P. Lim, 1993b: 1 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 5 (Shinto Temple [MNF]).—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.—K.K.P. Lim, 1994b: 331.—L.M. Chou, 1995: 148.—R. Subaraj et al., 1995: 2 (MacRitchie North [MNF]).—K. Lim et al., 1995: 13 (Rifle Range Road).—K. Lim, 1995: 15 (Seletar Track [Three-Stone Hill, NSSF]).— David & Vogel, 1996: 103.—R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 382 (MacRitchie North Forest; Taban & Lasia Valleys [BTNR]; Three-Stone Hill [NSSF]).— Iskandar & Colijn, 2001: 75.—K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 146.—T.M. Leong & L.L. Grismer, 2004: 15.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 105, 161.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2008: 164, 265.—Tillack & R. Ģnther, 2009: 280.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 272.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 105, 161.— Das, 2012a: 58.—Vassilieva 2013: 243.—Xu & Y.T. Teo, 2013: 82, 83 (Chestnut Track [CTF]).—Stuebing et al., 2014: 197.— et al., Thomas & J. Chua, 2014: 163, 164 (MacRitchie Reservoir Forest).—Wallach et al., 2014: 503.—M.A.H. Chua, 2015c: 59.—I.S. Law & Groenewoud, 2015a: 41 (MacRitchie forest near Venus Drive [WNP]).— Das, 2018: 70.—R.C.H. Teo & Thomas, 2019: 163, 181 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).— Charlton, 2020: 185.—K.H. Koh, 2020: 222.—K.K.P. Lim, 2020: 2, 5 (Sime Road Internment Camp [= SICC]).—I.T. Law et al., 2022: 1 (Bukit Batok Nature Park).
Holarchus purpurascens — Cross, 2020g: 1, 2 (Sime Road Camp).— Cross, 2020k: 1 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Cross, 2020l: 1 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).
Remarks. Tillack & Ģnther (2009) noted that several authors called into question the occurrence of O. signatus in Singapore, beginning with Ģnther (1864) who noted that the two specimens he examined are “said to be from Singapore; but whether this is their real native place, or they have been merely procured there, is uncertain”. It is likely that subsequent authors are referring to Ģnther (1864). However, not long after Ģnther (1864), Sclater (1891) reported a specimen collected by Davison, and Hanitsch (1899) reported a specimen collected by Ridley at SBG in March 1897 which he found under a pile of tiles (Ridley 1899). The first report of O. signatus from Singapore comes from Ģnther (1863) who noted that NHMUK procured new specimens in 1863. A year later, Ģnther (1864) used the specimens to describe O. signatus as a new species, but he was unsure whether the specimens originated from Singapore (Table 1). In addition, he described each specimen as a variety. Indeed, Boulenger (1894) indicated that Hardwicke and Haslar collected the two specimens from Singapore. Cross (2020g, k) recorded a few individuals in 1944 that went unpublished until now (Lim 2020). Later, Tweedie (1952) reported ZRC.2.3872 donated by Southwell-Sander in 1951 that was collected from Thomson Road, and he also referenced ZRC.2.3871 which was also collected from Thomson Road in November 1904. Murphy (1973) mentioned O. signatus was found at BTNR, but field observations were not made until 41 years later (Table 2) when a roadkill was found on the main road of BTNR on 27 August 1993 (Lim 1993b). Thereafter, O. signatus was reported several times from around CNR, mainly as roadkill (Lim & Subaraj 1994; Subaraj et al. 1995; Lim et al. 1995; Lim 1995; Teo & Rajathurai 1997). The only reported observations after this time was of one photographed at NSSF on 24 December 2010 (R. Ngiam pers. comm.), one being eaten by a Calliophis bivirgatus (Xu & Teo 2013), three from around MacRitchie (Thomas & Chua 2014; Law & Groenewoud 2015a), one encountered during the BTNR surveys (Teo & Thomas 2019), and one seen at BBNP on 13 August 2021 (Law et al. 2022). The individual illustrated in Figure 19G was photographed at RRNP on 7 August 2017 (A. Figueroa pers. obs.). A photograph posted on Facebook by ‘Acura’ of one at NTU in December 2010 is the only record outside of the Central Forests. LKCNHM also has specimens from 1969, 2000, 2010, 2013, and 2017, and BPBM has one collected by Hendrickson from ENAF on 26 February 1959.
Occurrence. Restricted to CNR and surrounding Nature Parks and forests, and one record adjacent to WC. Uncommon.
Singapore conservation status. Endangered.
Conservation priority. Highest.
IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2013].
LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): BMNH 1946.1.3.20 (no date) [holotype], BMNH 1946.1. 3.25 (no date) [holotype]; Botanic Gardens: ZRC. 2.3873 (Aug-1898); Bukit Kalang [SRF]: ZRC.2.6919 (28-Oct-2010); Bukit Timah: ZRC. 2.3958 (4-Sep-1896); Bukit Timah Forest [BTNR]: ZRC.2.3203 (15-Jul-1969); Bukit Timah Nature Reserve: ZRC.2.3388 (27-Aug-1993); Hume Heights: ZRC. 2.4842 (15-Jan-2000); Kampung Trail, Durian Loop [RRNP]: ZRC. 2.7274 (11-Jul-2017); MacRitchie Forest [MNF]: ZRC.2.3400 (14-Aug-1994); Old Upper Thomson Road: ZRC.2.7007 (05- May-2013); Thomson Road: ZRC.2.3871 (Nov-1904), ZRC.2.3872 (1951).
Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): ZMUC; Eng Neo Avenue Forest: BPBM.
Singapore localities. Bukit Batok Nature Park—Bukit Timah (not specified)—Bukit Timah Nature Reserve— Chestnut Track Forest—Eng Neo Avenue Forest—Hume Heights—MacRitchie North Forest—Nanyang Technological University Jurong Campus—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—Old Upper Thomson Road—Rifle Range Nature Park—Rifle Range Road—Sime Road Forest—Singapore Botanic Gardens—Singapore Island Country Club—Thomson Road—Windsor Nature Park.
Genus Ptyas Fitzinger, 1843 (3 species)
Macrops (Ptyas) Fitzinger, 1843: 26 (type species: Coluber blumenbachii Merrem, 1820 [= Coluber mucosus Linnaeus, 1758], by original designation; gender feminine).
Notes
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Linked records
Additional details
Identifiers
Biodiversity
- Collection code
- BMNH , BTNR , LKCNHM, NHMUK , MNF , RRNP , SRF , ZRC
- Material sample ID
- BMNH 1946.1
- Event date
- 1896-09-04 , 1969-07-15 , 1993-08-27 , 1994-08-14 , 2000-01-15 , 2010-10-28 , 2013-05-05 , 2017-07-11
- Verbatim event date
- 1896-09-04 , 1969-07-15 , 1993-08-27 , 1994-08-14 , 2000-01-15 , 2010-10-28 , 2013-05-05 , 2017-07-11
- Scientific name authorship
- Gnther
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Oligodon
- Species
- signatus
- Taxon rank
- species
- Type status
- holotype , syntype
- Taxonomic concept label
- Oligodon signatus (Gnther, 1864) sec. Figueroa, Low & Lim, 2023
References
- Gnther, A. C. L. G. (1864) The Reptiles of British India. Trustees [of the British Museum], London, xxvii + 452 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 5012
- Gnther, A. (1863) Third account of new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 3, 12 (71), 348 - 365. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00222936308681536
- Dennys, N. B. (1881 a) The snakes of Singapore III. Singapore Daily Times, 10 January 1881, 2.
- Boulenger, G. A. (1894) Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. II. Containing the conclusion of the Colubridae Aglyphae. Taylor and Francis, London, xi + 382 pp., 20 pls.
- Flower, S. S. (1896) Notes on a collection of reptiles and batrachians made in the Malay Peninsula in 1895 - 96; with a list of the species recorded from that region. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1896 (4), 856 - 914, pls. 44 - 46.
- Flower, S. S. (1899 b) Notes on a second collection of reptiles made in the Malay Peninsula and Siam, from November 1896 - September 1898, with a list of the species recorded from those countries. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1899 (4), 600 - 696, pls. 36 - 37.
- Hanitsch, R. (1899) Annual report of the curator and librarian on the Raffles Library and Museum, for the Year Ending 31 st December, 1898. In: Straits Settlements, Annual Reports for the Year 1898. Published by Authority, Singapore, pp. 7 - 16.
- Boulenger, G. A. (1912) A Vertebrate Fauna of the Malay Peninsula from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore, Including the Adjacent Islands. Reptilia and Batrachia, Taylor and Francis, London, xiii + 294 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 10813
- Hanitsch, R. (1912 b) List of the Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians in the Raffles Museum, Singapore. Raffles Library and Museum, Singapore, 19 pp.
- de Rooij, N. (1917) The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. II. Ophidia. E. J. Brill, Leiden, xiv + 334 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 10610
- de Haas, C. P. J. (1950) Checklist of the snakes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago (Reptiles, Ophidia). Treubia, 20 (3), 511 - 625.
- Lim, K. K. P. & Lim, F. L. K. (1992) A Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre, Singapore, 160 pp.
- Lim, K. K. P. (1993 b) Reptiles & Amphibians. The Pangolin, 6 (3 - 4), 1 - 4.
- Lim, K. K. P. & Subaraj, R. (1994) Recent records (1994) - herptiles. The Pangolin, 7 (1 - 4), 5.
- Chou L. M., Ng, P. K. L. & Lim, K. K. P. (1994) Animalia. In: Wee, Y. C. & Ng, P. K. L. (Eds.), A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. National Council on the Environment, Singapore, pp. 70 - 106.
- Lim, K. K. P. (1994 b) Reptiles. In: Ng, P. K. L. & Wee, Y. C. (Eds.), The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened Plants and Animals of Singapore. Nature Society, Singapore, pp. 213 - 227.
- Chou, L. M. (1995) Amphibians and reptiles. In: Chin, S. C., Corlett, R. T., Wee, Y. C. & Geh, S. Y. (Eds.), Rain Forest in the City: Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore. Gardens' Bulletin, Singapore, Supplement 3, pp. 145 - 150.
- David, P. & Vogel, G. (1996) The Snakes of Sumatra: An Annotated Checklist and Key with Natural History Notes. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt-am-Main, 260 pp.
- Iskandar, D. T. & Colijn, E. (2001) A Checklist of Southeast Asian and New Guinean Reptiles. Part I. Serpentes. Biodiversity Conservation Project (Indonesian Institute of Sciences - Japan International Cooperation Agency - The Ministry of Forestry). The Gibbon Foundation and Institute of Technology, Bandung, 195 pp.
- Lim, K. P. & Lim, F. L. K. (2002) A Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Singapore. Revised Edition. Singapore Science Centre, Singapore, 160 pp.
- Das, I. (2012 a) A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of South-East Asia. John Beaufoy Publishing, Oxford, 160 pp.
- Chua, M. A. H. (2015 c) Temasekia: 50 Plants and Animals Native to Singapore. Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore, 87 pp.
- Law, I. S. & Groenewoud, D. (2015 a) Barred kukri snake at eastern MacRitchie. Singapore Biodiversity Records, 2015, 41.
- Das, I. (2018) A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of Southeast Asia. 2 nd Edition. John Beaufoy Publishing, Oxford, 176 pp.
- Charlton, T. (2020) A Guide to Snakes of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, viii + 299 pp.
- Koh, K. H. (2020) Blue Malayan coral snake preying on a pink-headed reed snake. Singapore Biodiversity Records, 2020, 220 - 222.
- Lim K. K. P. (2020) Snakes and lizards recorded by Alexander Cross in Singapore from 1942 to 1945. Singapore Biodiversity Records, 2020 (Spec. No.), 1 - 6.
- Law, I. T., Law, I. S., Seow G. & Pwee T. (2022) Biodiversity Record: Barred kukri snake in Bukit Batok Nature Park. Nature in Singapore, 15 (e 2022010), 1 - 2.
- Cross, A. (2020 g) Notes on the species of Ophidia and Lacertilia obtained at Sime Road Internment Camp, Singapore, during December 1944. Singapore Biodiversity Records, 2020 (Spec. No. 7), 1 - 3.
- Cross, A. (2020 k) Notes on the species of Ophidia and Lacertilia obtained in Sime Road Internment Camp, Singapore, during April 1945. Singapore Biodiversity Records, 2020 (Spec. 11), 1 - 2.
- Cross, A. (2020 l) Belated reports on the species of Ophidia and Lacertilia obtained in Sime Road Internment Camp, Singapore, for March and April 1945. 2020 (Spec. No. 12), 1.