Ahaetulla fronticincta

{{speciesbox

| name = Günther's whipsnake

| image = Ahaetulla fronticincta 1.jpg

| image_caption =

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{Cite journal | author = Wogan, G. | author2 = Vogel, G. | name-list-style = amp | title = Ahaetulla fronticincta | journal = The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | volume = 2012 | page = e.T192058A2034357 | publisher = IUCN | date = 2012 | url = http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/192058/0 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T192058A2034357.en | access-date = 26 December 2017| doi-access = free }}

|display_parents = 2

| genus = Ahaetulla

| species = fronticincta

| authority = (Günther, 1858)

| synonyms = Dryophis fronticinctus

}}

Ahaetulla fronticincta, commonly known as Günther's whipsnake, the Burmese vine snake or the river vine snake, is a species of fish-eating vine snake found in Southeast Asia.

Taxonomy

It belongs to the genus Ahaetulla, one of five genera within the subfamily Ahaetuliinae. The relationships of Ahaetulla fronticincta to some other Ahaetulla species, and to the other genera within Ahaetuliinae, can be shown in the cladogram below, with possible paraphyletic species noted:{{Cite journal |last1=Mallik |first1=Ashok Kumar |last2=Achyuthan |first2=N. Srikanthan |last3=Ganesh |first3=Sumaithangi R. |last4=Pal |first4=Saunak P. |last5=Vijayakumar |first5=S. P. |last6=Shanker |first6=Kartik |date=27 July 2019 |title=Discovery of a deeply divergent new lineage of vine snake (Colubridae: Ahaetuliinae: Proahaetulla gen. nov.) from the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India with a revised key for Ahaetuliinae |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=14 |issue=7 |pages=e0218851 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0218851 |pmid=31314800 |pmc=6636718 |issn=1932-6203 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1418851M |doi-access=free}}

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|label1=Ahaetuliinae

|1={{clade

|label1=sharp-nosed snakes

|1={{clade

|label1=

|1={{clade

|label1=Ahaetulla

|1={{clade

|1=Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

|2=Ahaetulla fasciolata }}

|2=Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic) }}

|2={{clade

|1=Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

|2=Ahaetulla mycterizans }} }}

|2=Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic) }}

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Ahaetulla anomala

|2=Ahaetulla pulverulenta }}

|2=Ahaetulla nasuta (paraphyletic) }}

|2=Ahaetulla fronticincta }} }}

|2=Proahaetulla antiqua }}

|2=Dryophiops }}

|label2=broad-nosed snakes

|2={{clade

|1=Dendrelaphis

|2=Chrysopelea }} }} }}

Distribution and habitat

It is found in bushes and other low vegetation along tidal rivers and mangrove in coastal parts of Myanmar (Burma).Das, I. (2010). A Field Guide to the Reptiles of South-East Asia. Pp. 259-260. New Holland Publishers, UK. {{ISBN|978-1-84773-347-4}}Reptile Database (2016). [http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Ahaetulla&species=fronticincta Ahaetulla fronticincta.] Retrieved 15 April 2016. There are also old records from neighbouring northeastern India (Assam and Darjeeling), but these are considered questionable and it has not been located there during recent surveys. It is generally common in appropriate habitats within its known range.

Description

It is slender, up to about {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} long, and either green or brownish with a paler underside.

Behavior

This diurnal, mildly venomous snake feeds only on fish. It strikes at a fish in water while maintaining half of its body wrapped around a branch or twig. The mild venom of this snake renders the fish immobile.

It is ovoviviparous.