Python molurus
Indian Python
Pimbura, Dara pimbura
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Worldwide nearly 2000 species belongs to this family & can be known as typical snakes. These snakes are found in except in all continents except in Australia. There are 45 species found in Sri Lanka & 20 species are known to be endemic. Also very primitive types of species are found & some remain without a scientific name. Dendrelaphis oliverti & Argyrogena fasciolata were only found once in Sri Lanka.

They have less typical characteristics among species because they vary in their mode of life, from burrowing forms, to terrestrial forms & also aquatic & arboreal types are also included. They lack hypapophysis & hind limbs. Mental groove & symmetrical head shield made of nine scales are common for all species. Some have the special ability to glide. They mostly feed on insects. Some are depended their diet on mollusks while some depend on eggs.

Mostly they are oviparous & some are viviparous. Most are non poisonous & harmless but a few have proven to give lethal bites. They have an evolutionary primary poisonous gland belonging to type Opisthoglyphous

Ahaetulla nasuta
Green vine snake
Ahaetulla, Aasgulla
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Xenochrophis piscator
The checkered keelback
Diya Naya, Diya Bariya
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This family is represented by cobras, coral snakes & kraits. They are vastly spread in Australia & other countries except for European countries. Sri Lanka is well known for its cobras & kraits. There are 3 genera with 5 species present in Sri Lanka. Bungarus ceylonicus is endemic to Sri Lanka. This family consists of snakes with different body sizes. The largest highly venomous Ophiophagus Hannah (King cobra) grows up to 5.5m & is once recorded from Sri Lanka. The male snakes are mostly larger in size.

Most of them show morphological similarities to the family Colubridae but most lack loreal scales. They also have a pair of poison fangs at the front of the mouth which are fixed. These snakes contain a Proteroglyphous type of venomous system. They produce neurotoxic venom. Their bites cause the respiratory system fail & it’s fatal.

These snakes consist of terrestrial, arboreal & most are diurnal. They are oviparous & ovovoparous. They lay eggs in nests made of litter & female snakes are known to guard the eggs. Their diet consists of other snakes.

Naja naja
Indian cobra
Naya, Nagaya
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These snakes are known as a family which is made of species including family Elapidae who have adapted to aquatic life. Therefore they bear paddle like laterally flattened tail, to help in swimming. Also they have a muscular flap in their nostrils which is used to close the nostrils when swimming avoiding water entering inside. There is only one lung which extends within the whole body. They can stay in water for many long hours & some are capable of getting oxygen that is dissolved in water. They also bear salinity receptors, which are sensitive to the changing salinity rates.

Most of them have flattened bodies, so they are very good swimmers, but are very weak in locomotion in terrestrial habitat. But sea kraits are an exception which has the ability of locomotion on terrestrial habitat due to having a less flattened body. Rostral of sea snakes are bent as a beak.

These snakes are mostly found in coastal areas & very few live in deep sea. They are mostly marine but also known to travel upriver, in tidal portions of rivers. No sea snakes are found in Atlantic Ocean because the temperature matter. There are 15 sea snakes in Sri Lanka according to the latest reports. They are more active at dusk & have the ability to trick prey by attaching algae & barnacles to their body. They are some times found in large groups. They are all ovoviviparous & breeding occur entirely in the ocean. The exception is Laticauda, which are oviparous laying eggs in coastal area holes.

They all have a proteroglyphous venom system. All sea snakes are highly venomous but less aggressive. Also the chance of them meeting a human is less. Therefore attacks recorded are much less. Short fangs at the back of the upper jaws are non movable.

Thalassophina viperina
Schmidt's sea snake
Polon muhudu naya

This family includes early arrivals snakes. They are primitive, very small, externally worm like & cylindrical body snakes. The scales are shiny & contiguous. They are fossorial & found under & inside decaying logs, under rocks, leaf litter & loose soil. They appear on land during rain, when they are flooded out of their subterranean haunts. Their bodies are well camouflaged due to mostly being brown colour.

Some bear tails with a terminal spine. They use it in locomotion & to sting when threatened. They release an unpleasant odor when threatened. Eyes are covered with permeable scales. They are known as blind snakes.

The teeth are present only in maxilla & teeth lack in pre-maxilla & mandible. They feed on insect eggs, larvae & adult insects such as ants, termites & even worms. They are non venomous & do not bite. Except for one species others are oviparous. The exception is parthenogenesis. 

There are 2 genera found in Sri Lanka including 10 species. The 2 genera are Typhlops & Ramphotyphlops. Except for the Ramphotyphlops braminus (distributed in many other countries) & Typhlops porrectus (also distributed in India), other species are endemic to Sri Lanka. 5 species that were found by Tylor from Trincomalee were never found after 1944, so there are many complications in this family.

Typhlops violaceus (DD*) END
Viloet blind snake
Dan kanaulla
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Uropeltis melanogaster (DD) END
Black shield tail
Kaluwakatulla
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There are 4 types of genus of this family found in Sri Lanka. Out of them except for Trimeresurus trigonocephalus (Sri Lankan Green Pit Viper) which is an arboreal snake, the others are terrestrial. Snakes in this family have small or mid sized bodies & bear a characteristic flattened, triangular, large heads. The head bear many small shields. Ventral scales are broad in size. Most species have keels on their scales. They have large eyes with vertical, eclipsed pupil. The body consists of a short tail & some have the prehensile ability. Many snakes of this family have brown shades of body colours.

According to the presence of loreal pits they are included in a sub family Crotalinae (pit vipers). These sensory pits on the snout acts as thermal detectors for locating warm bodied prey, such as small mammals. Most snakes are not very active & are nocturnal. Most snakes are ovoviviparous & produce young ones. Other species that produce eggs are known to guard them.

They are the most evolutionary advanced & most specialized of the venomous snakes. They are capable of delivering their venom during a bite through enlarged fangs that are foldable & hollow, like hypodermic needles. They consist of a solenoglyphous venomous system. Their venom is haemotoxic, affecting the blood, & a bite from one of the larger species is excruciatingly painful. The Sri Lankan population of this species apparently has both haemotoxic & neurotoxic properties. The world’s longest venomous snake Bitis gabonia (Gaboon Viper) belongs to this family. Highly venomous & moderately venomous snakes of this family include in Sri Lanka.

Trimeresurus trigonocephalus
(TR) END
Green pit viper
Pala Polonga >more...