Email: mgaulke@web.de
Class: Amphibia / Order: Anura / Family: Bufonidae (1 species)
Scientific name:
Bufo marinus
(LINNAEUS, 1758)
English name/local name: Giant Marine Toad
Short description: SVL 86 – 132 mm; short legs, rough skin with many tubercles;
two large parotoid glands on shoulder region; light to dark brown.
Habitat: in cultivated
areas.
Remarks: species not indigenous to the Philippines, introduced from South
America
in the early 1930s.
Distribution and status: found on most Philippine islands; very common.
Order: Anura / Family: Microhylidae (1 species)
Scientific name:
Kaloula conjuncta negrosensis (TAYLOR,
1920)
English name/local name: Truncate-toed Chorus Frog
Short description: SVL 29 - 47 mm; skin above smooth or with scattered
tubercles;
finger tipsexpanded and truncate; back olive brown, with an obscure darker pattern.
Habitat: burrowing in soil or climbing vegetation.
Remarks: nocturnal.
Distribution and status: endemic to
Cebu, Guimaras, Negros, Panay.
Class: Amphibia / Order: Anura / Family: Ranidae (7 species)
Scientific name:
Limnonectes cancrivorus
(GRAVENHORST, 1829)
English name/local name: Asian Brackish Water Frog
Short description: SVL 46 – 88 mm; stocky body; skin of back with irregular
folds;
finger- and toetips rounded; toes completely webbed; several rounded
tubercles on back; colour of back different shades of brown, with irregular
darker spots.
Habitat: in ditches, ponds, rice fields and even brackish water.
Remarks: used as food.
Distribution and status: widespread throughout Southeast-Asia; very common.
Scientific
name:
Phrynoglossus laevis
(GÜNTHER, 1858)
English name/local name:
Puddle Frog
Short description: SVL 26
– 62 mm; short and stocky legs; small head; toes
fully webbed; different shades of brown above with following four colour
varieties:
one middorsal stripe, two lateral stripes, darker reticulations, reddish
head.
Habitat: in small puddles or
creeks, never away from water; in cultivated areas and
in primary and secondary forests.
Remarks: nocturnal, but
sometimes also starts to call during daytime if it is raining.
Distribution and status:
wide distribution throughout Southeast Asia; very common.
Scientific name:
Platymantis corrugatus
(DUMERIL, 1853)
English name/local name: Rough-Backed Forest Frog
Short description: SVL 28 – 50 mm; long skin ridges on back; finger- and
toetips slightly dilated; different shades of reddish-brown above; broad
black
band across sides of head.
Habitat: forest floor; in primary and secondary forest.
Remarks:
hiding under leaves, rotting logs or stones during daytime, active during the
night.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines, on all major
islands except Palawan;
relatively common but endangered through deforestation.
Scientific
name:
Platymantis
dorsalis
(Dumeril, 1853)
English name/local name:
Common
Forest Frog
Short description:
SVL 27 – 53 mm; short skin ridges on
back; finger- and toetips slightly
dilated; very variable colouration: different
shades of brown, without markings or with
middorsal stripe, with lateral stripes
and light head or with black sides.
Habitat:
forest floor in primary and secondary forest and along creeks.
Remarks:
hiding under leaves or rotting logs or stones during daytime; active during the
night.
Distribution and status: endemic to the Philippines; common.
. English name/local name:
Everett´s Frog
Short description:
SVL 43 – 90 mm; elongated body; expanded fingers and toes;
skin of back smooth or with spinules; toes nearly completely webbed;
colouration brown, yellowish brown, or grayish green.
Habitat: forest close to water, on rocks in forest streams or lakes, or on leaves of low
vegetation.
Remarks: nocturnal.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines; rare.
Scientific name: Rana
(Limnonectes) magna visayana
(Inger, 1954)
English name/local name:
Visayan-Giant Philippine Frog
Short description:
SVL 51 – 150 mm; stocky body; finger- and toetips rounded;
toes completely webbed; several rounded tubercles on back; colour of
back different shades of brown.
Habitat: clear mountain streams.
Remarks: biggest ranid frog of the area; nocturnal; never far from
water.
Distribution and status:
species endemic to the Philippines, subspecies endemic
to the West-Visayas; common.
Class: Amphibia / Order: Anura /
Family: Rhacophoridae
Scientific
name: Polypedates
leucomystax (Gravenhorst,
1829)
English name/local name:
Common Tree Frog
Short description:
SVL 50 – 75 mm; finger- and toetips strongly dilated; rudimentary
webbing on fingers and extensive webbing on toes; upper surface smooth;
brownish with four vague to distinct dark longitudinal bands on back that are
sometimes broken, and several dark bands across limbs.
Habitat: arboreal; all types of primary and secondary vegetation, even found in houses.
Remarks: nocturnal, sometimes seen sleeping on the undersides of large leaves during
daytime.
Distribution and status:
widespread throughout Southeast Asia, all over the Philippines; common.
- - -
Class: Reptilia / Order: Sauria /
Family: Agamidae (3 species)
Scientific
name: Bronchocela
cristatella (Kuhl,
1820)
English name/local name:
Green Crested Agamid,
Short description:
SVL 80 – 110 mm; tail more than three times the SVL;
low nuchal and dorsal crests; normally light green, with irregalur whitish and
bluish markings; able to change colour within seconds when handled, normally
turning to dark brown.
Habitat: in coconut plantations, bamboo grooves, secondary forests, or the outskirts of
primary forests.
Remarks: arboreal and diurnal.
Distribution and status:
widespread throughout Southeast-Asia; very common.
English name/local name:
Common Flying Lizard
Short description:
SVL 70 - 90 mm; males with large, triangular, orangish gular sac;
females with small gular sac; patagia of males light brown with numerous small
black spots; patagia of females with irregular dark and light brown, transverse bands.
Habitat: primary and secondary forest, coconut plantations; mostly in the upper part of
high trees.
Remarks: this arboreal and diurnal lizards usually only comes to the ground for
egg-laying;
sleeping places have been found among twigs and leaves of low bushes.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines; common.
English name/local name:
Philippine Sailfin Lizard
Short description:
SVL to about 30 cm, TL up to 100 cm; a high skin sail on the tail,
which is more pronounced in males than in females.
Habitat: vegetation of river banks.
Remarks: these huge, mainly vegetarian agamid lizards live in small groups;
in dangerous situations they flee into the water and dive away; able to run short
distances on their hind limbs across water.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines, not in the Palawan- and Sulu-regions;
once common but becoming rare in many areas.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Sauria /
Family: Gekkonidae (12 species)
Scientific name: Cosymbotus
platyurus (Schneider,
1792)
English name/local name:
Flat-tailed Gecko
Short description:
SVL 43 - 61 mm; body dorsoventral depressed and with a marginal flap
of skin; fingers and toes strongly dilated; no enlarged tubercle scales; tail with
a marginal fringe of spiny scales; dorsum light to dark grey with irregular markings.
Habitat: in huts and houses and their direct environment.
Remarks: mainly nocturnal; one of the most common house lizards in the Philippines.
Distribution and status:
widespread throughout South- and Southeast-Asia; very common.
Scientific
name: Cyrtodactylus
annulatus (Taylor,
1915)
English name/local name:
Ringed Forest Gecko
Short description:
SVL 44 – 76 mm; fingers and toes not dilated; 14 to 18 rows
enlarged tubercle scales among small dorsal scales; dorsum light brown with some
rows of dark brown crossbands.
Habitat: in primary and secondary forest.
Remarks:
arboreal and nocturnal; on tree stems or bigger leaves; can be found hiding
under stones or fallen logs during daytime.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines; common within its habitat but
endangered through deforestation.
English name/local name:
Common Four-clawed Gecko
Short description:
38 - 60 mm; no enlarged tubercles among small dorsal scales;
a low ridge of skin on the body sides; dorsal colour grayish with irregular rows
of dark and yellowish spots.
Habitat: in huts and houses, plantations and forests.
Remarks: mainly nocturnal and arboreal.
Distribution and status:
almost circumtropical distribution through man; common.
English name/local name:
Tokeh
Short description:
117 – 185 mm; fingers and toes dilated; 10 to 12 rows of enlarged
tubercles among small dorsal scales; dorsal colour gray to bluish, with bright
red or orange spots.
Habitat: in huts and houses and their direct environment, in plantations and secondary
forest.
Remarks: mainly nocturnal; easily noticable through its loud call, sounding like „toko“.
Distribution and status:
widespread throughout Southeast-Asia; very common.
English name/local name:
Mindoro Narrow-disked Gecko
Short description:
55 - 86 mm; 16 to 19 rows of enlarged tubercles among small dorsal
scales; dorsal colour grayish to tan, with darker markings arranged in more or
less distinct transverse bands.
Habitat: in
walls of caves close to the entrance and on tree trunks above the ground.
Remarks: nocturnal.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the northern and central Philippines;
relatively common.
English name/local name:
Common House Gecko
Short description:
SVL 37 – 65 mm; fingers and toes dilated but without webbing; irregularly
scattered tubercle scales among small dorsal scales; colour highly variable,
depending from substrate: light gray to dark brown, with or without darker markings.
Habitat: in huts and houses and their direct environment.
Remarks: mainly nocturnal.
Distribution and status:
almost circumtropical distribution through man; very common.
English name/local name:
Garnot´s House Gecko
Short description:
SVL 50 – 65 mm; with skin flaps on body sides; without enlarged
tubercle scales or with small tubercles near the sides; dorsal colour grayish brown
with more or less distinct darker and lighter spots.
Habitat: in huts and houses, in the forest and on large stone formations.
Remarks:
nocturnal, parthenogenetic.
Distribution and status:
almost circumtropical distribution through man; rare in the Philippines.
English name/local name:
Common Dwarf Gecko
Short description:
SVL 28 – 47 mm; slender body not depressed; without enlarged
tubercles; dorsal colour brown with small dark spots, sometimes with light vertebral
line; tail lighter than dorsum.
Habitat: in huts and houses and in the forest.
Remarks:
nocturnal, hiding under stones, fallen logs or big leaves during daytime.
Distribution and status:
South- and Southeast-Asia; relatively rare.
English name/local name:
White-lined Smooth-scaled Gecko
Short description:
SVL 34 – 55 mm; no tubercle scales among dorsals; distinct
white line between ear and eye; dorsal ground colour yellowish to brown.
Habitat:
in leaf axils of coconut trees and in lowland forests.
Remarks: nocturnal.
Distribution and status: species endemic to the Philippines, subspecies
endemic to Bohol, Cebu, Camotes and Leyte; common.
English name/local name:
Mangrove Smooth-scaled Gecko
Short description:
SVL 30 – 47 mm; no tubercle scales among dorsals; dorsal ground
colour yellowish to brown with irregularly margined dark and light transverse bands.
Habitat: leaf axils of coconut and Pandanus
trees, mangrove trees, rocks along the shoreline.
Remarks:
mainly nocturnal.
Distribution and status:
almost circumtropical distribution through man; very common.
English name/local name:
Broad-tailed Smooth-scaled Gecko
Short description:
SVL 27 – 41 mm; tail strongly depressed with moderate to broad
flange of skin; no tubercle scales among dorsals; dorsal ground colour cream to
brown with darker irregular bands or blotches dorsolaterally.
Habitat: leaf axils of coconut and Pandanus
trees, on mangrove trees, and in aerial ferns.
Remarks:
mainly nocturnal.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines; common.
English name/local name:
Orang-spotted Smooth-scaled Gecko
Short description:
SVL 40 – 54 mm; slencer, subcylindrical body; digits dilated; no enlarged
tubercles among dorsals; reddish-brown, occasionally with darker blemishes.
Habitat:
leaf axils in dipterocarp and montane forests.
Remarks: nocturnal.
Distribution and status:
endemic to Samar, Negros, Bohol Cebu and Panay, rare.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Sauria /
Family: Scincidae (10 species)
Scientific name: Brachymeles
cebuensis Brown & Rabor,
1967
English name/local name:
Cebu Worm Skink
Short description:
SVL 55 – 74 mm; slender bodied; much reduces limbs with three
vestigial digits on fore limbs and 2 vestigial digits on hind limbs; upper surface
brownish with tiny blackish spots.
Habitat: in humus and rotting vegetation in secondary and primary forest.
Remarks:
nocturnal and fossorial.
Distribution and status:
endemic to Cebu; rare.
Scientific
name: Brachymeles
gracilis taylori (Brown,
1956)
English name/local name: Common Burrowing Skink
Short description: SVL 66 – 103 mm; short legs with five tiny digits
(pentadactyl);
stocky bodied; dorsal colour brown to reddish-brown, occasionally with narrow light
and dark longitudinal lines.
Habitat:
in humus and rotting vegetation in secondary and primary forest.
Remarks: nocturnal and
fossorial; even during nighttime only seldom seen on surface.
Distribution and status:
species endemic to the Philippines, subspecies endemic to some
Islands of the West-Visayas; relatively common, but endangered through deforestation.
Scientific name: Emoia atrocostata
(Lesson, 1830)
English name/local name: Gray Swamp Skink
Short description:
SVL 79 – 94 mm; body moderately slender; limbs well developed;
dorsal colour gray, with many black spots.
Habitat: in mangrove areas and along rocky coasts.
Remarks: diurnal, ground dwelling.
Distribution and status:
Southeast-Asia up to Australia; common.
English name/local name: Philippine Spotted-Green Tree Skink
Short description:
SVL 80 – 114 mm; dorsal colour light green with variable brown markings.
Habitat:
trees in cultivated and undisturbed areas.
Remarks: arboreal and diurnal; the only green tree skink in the Philippines.
Distribution and status:
subspecies endemic to the Philippines; very common.
English name/local name: Bronze Forest Mabouya
Short description:
SVL 46 – 67 mm; dorsal scales with 5 to 7 keels; dorsal colour bronze brown
with several longitudinal series of dark spots; a dark dorsolateral band
framed with light lines.
Habitat:
forest floor of primary and secondary forest, also in cultivated areas if they
are close to a forest.
Remarks: terrestrial and diurnal; often seen sunbathing on fallen logs in small forest
clearings.
Distribution and status:
wide distribution in the Philippines, also in North-Borneo; common.
English name/local name: Two-striped Mabouya
Short description: SVL 50 – 85 mm; dorsal scales with 5 to 7 keels; dorsal colour bronze brown;
two light longitudinal lines from head to base of tail, between which is a dark band
Habitat: forest floor of primary and secondary forest and in plantations.
Remarks: terrestrial and diurnal.
Distribution and status:
Species endemic to the Philippines, subspecies endemic
to Luzon and West-Visayas; common.
English name/local name: Common
Mabouya
Short description:
SVL 109 – 137 mm; dorsal scales with 3 keels; dorsal colour dark brown
to olive brown; oftenly with a large, shiny, yellow or orangish spots above forelegs.
Habitat: inhabits the floor of cultivated areas
like coconut plantations or open grasslands,
not in undisturbed primary forest.
Remarks: this large, diurnal and terrestrial skink is extremely sun loving,
it can be seen
sunbathing during the hottest times of the day.
Distribution and status:
widespread throughout South- and Southeast Asia, up to
New Guinea; very common.
English name/local name: Jagor´s Forest Skink
Short description: SVL 100 – 110 mm; dorsal colour brown marked by narrow,
irregular, transverse whitish lines; a conspicuous broad black bar above hind limbs.
Habitat: inhabits primary forest floor, also along stream banks.
Remarks: diurnal and terrestrial.
Distribution and status:
species endemic to the Philippines, subspecies endemic to the
West-Visayan Islands; relatively common within its habitat but endangered through deforestation
English name/local name: Steere´s Forest Skink
Short description: SVL 26 – 36 mm; dorsal colour brown, with darker dashes along middorsal line.
Habitat:
among leaves of the floor of secondary and primary forest, under small stones
along stream banks.
Remarks: diurnal and
semifossorial.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines, very common.
English name/local name: Spiny Water Skink
Short description: SVL 83 – 119 mm; head shields with prominent keels or ridges,
dorsal and lateral scales with strong keels, those of tail ending in sharp spines;
dorsal colour almost uniform dark brown.
Habitat:
under rocks and logs in the beds of forest streams.
Remarks: diurnal and
semiaquatic.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the northern and central Philippines; relatively common.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Sauria /
Family: Varanidae (1 species)
Scientific name:
Varanus salvator
nuchalis (Guenther,
1872)
English name/local name: Rough-necked Water Monitor
Short description:
SVL 40 – 50 cm; strongly enlarged nuchal scales; dorsal colour dark gray,
with a whitish middorsal line and more or less conspicuous whitish spots and ocelli
arranged in transverse lines.
Habitat: in cultivated and undisturbed habitats, usually not far away from water.
Remarks: diurnal and mainly terrestrial, but can climb, swim and dive.
Distribution and status: species widespread in Southeast Asia, subspecies endemic to the
West-Visayan Islands in the Philippines; once very common but getting rare in
many areas due to overhunting.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Serpentes
/ Family: Colubridae (13 species)
Scientific name:
Ahaetulla prasina
preocularis (Taylor,
1922)
English name/local name: Green Whip-Snake
Short description:
TL up to 200 cm; very slender body; elongated head very distinct from neck;
dorsal colour light green to bluish green; 15 middorsal scale rows; opisthoglyph.
Habitat: shrubs and trees in cultivated and undisturbed areas.
Remarks: diurnal and arboreal.
Distribution and status: species widespread throughout Southeast Asia, subspecies endemic
to the Philippines; common.
Scientific name:
Boiga
cynodon
(BOIE, 1827)
English name/local name: Dog-Tooth
Cat Snake
Short description:
TL up
to 280 cm; laterally compressed body; short head very distinct from neck;
23 midbody scale rows; 250 – 281 ventrals; 120 – 157 subcaudals; dorsal
colour light brown
with
numerous darker, partly saddle-shaped transverse bands, dark stripe from eyes to
angle of
jaws;
opisthoglyph.
Habitat: shrubs
and trees in forested and cultivated areas.
Remarks: nocturnal
and arboreal.
Distribution and status: species widespread throughout the Philippines as well as Southeast
Asia;
relatively common.
Scientific name: Calamaria
gervaisi (Dumeril &
Bibron, 1854)
English name/local name: Gervais´ Worm Snake
Short description: TL up to 321 mm; head not distinct from body;
no internasals; no anterior temporals; colour above light brown with four longitudinal
rows of small, dark dots; scales in 13 rows; aglyph.
Habitat:
in humus under rotting logs, and in tree buttresses.
Remarks: fossorial.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines; common.
Scientific Name: Cerberus
rynchops (Schneider,
1799)
English Name: Dog-Faced Water Snake
Short description: TL up to 100 cm; slender body;
small head with small eyes, slightly distinct
from neck; dorsal scales strongly keeled; dorsal colour olive
grey to brownish grey, with irregular
dark transverse markings; 21 - 25 middorsal scale rows;
opisthoglyph
Habitat: coastal areas, brackish water, mangroves; but
also in inland rivers and lagoons, and in ricefields.
Remarks: aquatic.
Distribution and status: widespread throughout South-
and Southeast Asia, Neuguinea and Northern Australia;
all over the Philippines; common.
Scientific name:
Chrysopelea
paradisi variabilis (Mertens,
1968)
English name/local name: Variable Paradise Tree Snake
Short description: TL up to 130 cm; head distinct from neck; eyes large; dorsal colour
blackish brown or gray, with a green spot on each scale, sometimes forming crossbars;
a vertebral series of red spots might be present; 17 middorsal scale rows; opisthoglyph.
Habitat: on coconut trees and on forest trees.
Remarks: diurnal and arboreal.
Distribution and status:
supspecies endemic to the Philippines; relatively common.
English name/local name: Triangle-spotted
Snake
Short description: TL about 395 mm; head scarcely distinct from neck; eyes small;
colour above light to dark brown, with somewhat indistinct, darker vertebral and
dorsolateral lines; colour below cream, with numerous triangular, brown to blackish spots;
middorsal scales in 17 rows; aglyph.
Habitat:
in secondary and primary forests, and in coconut and abaca groves.
Remarks: ground dwelling to
semifossorial.
Distribution and status:
genus endemic to the Philippines; subspecies endemic to the
West-Visayas; relatively common.
English name/local name: Painted Bronzeback
Short description:
TL up to 120 cm; dorsal side light bronzebrown; a wide black band
runs ventrolaterally from eye to tail; middorsal scales in 15 rows; aglyph.
Habitat: shrubs, trees and ground; mainly in cultivated areas.
Remarks:
diurnal and arboreal.
Distribution and status:
widespread throughout Southeast-Asia; very common.
English name/local name:
Philippine Rat Snake
Short description: TL up to 160 cm; dorsal side brown, darker at posterior part;
upper part of tail almost black; middorsal scales in 21 rows; aglyph.
Habitat: rice fields, grasslands, even in human dwellings.
Remarks: diurnal and terrestrial.
Distribution and status:
species on the Philippines and Sulawesi, subspecies endemic to the
West-Visayan Islands; once very common but becoming rare in some areas due to overkilling.
English name/local name: Common Wolf Snake
Short description:
TL up to 76 cm; dorsal colour purplish brown to dark brown, with irregular white
markings; a whitish to yellowish collar across neck; middorsal scales in 17rows; aglyph.
Habitat: oftenly found in houses human dwellings, looking for house lizards; therefore
also known as house-snake.
Remarks: nocturnal and ground dwelling.
Distribution and status:
widespread in South- and Southeast-Asia; common.
English name/local name: Visayan Banded Burrowing Snake
Short description:
TL up to 80 cm; head not distinct from neck; dorsal colour dark brown to olive,
iridescent; juveniles with a white nuchal collar and about 34 whitish bands
across body; dorsal scales in 15 rows; aglyph.
Habitat: under rocks or rotting logs on the forest floor.
Remarks: fossorial.
Distribution and status:
species endemic to the Philippines, subspecies endemic to Cebu and Negros;
relatively common, but endangered through deforestation.
English name/local name: Mcnamara´s
Burrowing Snake
Short description:
TL up to 24 cm; head not distinct from neck; loreal present; preocular
absent; dorsal
scales in 15 rows around midbody; 128 – 145 ventrals; 20 – 27
subcaudals; anal single; dorsal side
iridescent brown; a yellow collar might be present at neck region;
ventral side brown or yellowish; aglyph
Habitat: in
humus and under rotting logs on the forest floor; between 500 and 1.130 m asl.
Remarks: nocturnal
and semifossorial.
Distribution and status: endemic
to the Philippines, known from Cebu, Luzon, Negros, and Panay; relatively
common.
English name/local name: Negros
Light-scaled Burrowing Snake
Short description:
TL up to 28.2 cm; head not distinct from neck; loreal and preocular
absent; dorsal scales in
15 rows around midbody; 132 – 157 ventrals; 16 – 24 subcaudals; anal
single; dorsal side dark reddish brown
to blackish, with silvery iridescence, sometimes with darker vertebral
stripe; aglyph.
Habitat: in humus and under rotting logs on the forest floor; between seal level
and 750 m asl.
Remarks: nocturnal
and semifossorial.
Distribution and status: endemic
to the Philippines, known from Cebu, Negros, and Panay; rare.
Scientific name:
Tropidonophis
negrosensis (Taylor,
1917)
English name/local name: Spotted Water Snake
Short description: TL up to 90 cm; dorsal side olivebrown to
darkbrown; a median series of
dark transverse bars, becoming lighter on body sides; 17 middorsal scale rows; aglyph.
Habitat: along mountain streams in forested areas.
Remarks:
can be seen during day and night; terrestrial and semiaquatic.
Distribution and status: species endemic to the West-Visayas; common.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Serpentes
/ Family: Elapidae (1 species)
Scientific name:
Calliophis
calligaster gemianulis (Peters,
1872)
English name/local name: Barred Coral Snake
Short description:
TL up to 53 cm; head not distinct from neck; no loreal shield; dorsal side
dark with many narrow, broken, white reddish annuli; ventral side with alternating
blackish and reddish crossbars; dorsal scales in 15 rows; poisono
Habitat: under leave litter on the forest floor.
Remarks: semifossorial.
Distribution and status: species endemic to the Philippines, subspecies endemic to the
West-Visayas; relatively common.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Serpentes
/ Family: Pythonidae (1 species)
Scientific name:
Python
reticulatus (Schneider,
1801)
English name/local name: Reticulated Python
Short description:
TL can reach several metres, record lengths of about 10 m are reported;
stout body with distinct head; dorsal colour different shades of brown with more or
less symmetrical dark network; 69 to 80 middorsal scale rows; no poison fangs.
Habitat:
in forested areas, oftenly close to water; also in cultivated areas and even in
human dwellings.
Remarks: nocturnal, mainly terrestrial.
Distribution and status: widespread throughout Southeast Asia; once very common
but becoming rare in many areas due to overhunting.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Serpentes
/ Family: Typhlopidae (3 species)
Scientific name: Rhamphotyphlops
braminus (Daudin,
1803)
English name/local name: Brahminy Blind Snake
Short description:
TL up to 15 cm; smallest Blind Snake in the Philippines;
head not distinct from neck; dorsal colour dark brown; scale rows around midbody 20; aglyph.
Habitat:
in the soil of gardens and other cultivated areas, and in secondary forests.
Remarks:
nocturnal, fossorial.
Distribution and status:
circumtropical distribution; very common.
Scientific name:
Typhlops castanotus (Wynn
& leviton,
1993)
English name/local name:
Short description: TL up
to 25.3 cm; head not distinct from neck; 28 scale rows around anterior
body,
reducing
to 24 rows posteriorly; dark dorsal stripe, 9 or 11 scale rows wide; dark dorsal
side
sharply
set off from the cream colored lateral and ventral scales; tail uniform dark
dorsally and
laterally;
aglyph.
Habitat: in
humus and under rotting logs on the forest floor..
Remarks: nocturnal
and semifossorial.
Distribution and status:
endemic to the Philippines, known from Boracay, Cebu, and Panay; rare.
Scientific name:
Typhlops hypogius (SAVAGE,
1950)
English name/local name: Cebu Blind Snake
Short description: TL up to 18 cm; head not distinct from neck; dorsal colour
grayish brown, head lighter than body; underside yellowish, with a dark area before
anus; scale rows around midbody 24; aglyph.
Habitat:
not known, but probably in aerial ferns in forests.
Remarks: probably nocturnal.
Distribution and status:
endemic to Cebu; rare.
Class: Reptilia / Order: Chelonia / Family: Bataguridae (1 species)
Scientific name:
Cuora amboinensis
amboinensis (Daudin,
1802)
English name/local name:
Asian Box Turtle
Short description: Carapax-length up to 25 cm; carapax dark brown,
plastron yellowish with dark patches; headsides with distinct, longitudinal yellow stripes.
Habitat:
in and along streams, creeks, rice fields, and swamp areas.
Remarks:
semiaquatic.
Distribution and status: species widespread throughout Southeast Asia,
subspecies Sulawesi, Moluccas and most Philippine Islands; once very common but
becoming rare in many areas due to overcollecting and motorized ploughing.
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