Big-eyed mountain keelback  (Pseudoxenodon macrops)

This species has not yet been classified by the IUCN.

As its common name suggests, this mountain snake is known for its large eyes and strongly keeled scales down its back, giving the skin a rough texture (2). Colouration is fairly variable across this species’ expansive South and Southeast Asian range, but generally ranges from orange-brown to blackish, with short transverse stripes across the body (3). By contrast, the underside is yellow with black spots. The top of the narrow oval head may be blue-greenish, and is marked with a distinctive, black, arrow-shaped stripe. This species has been divided into three subspecies, P. m. sinensis, P. m. macrops, and P. m. fukienensis (2).

Widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia, from China (Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Taiwan, Xizang, and Yunnan), India and Nepal, through Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to Malaysia (2).

The big-eyed mountain keelback inhabits forest borders and cultivated lands near rivers in hill, plateau and mountainous areas, between 700 and 2,700 m above see level (2).

Despite its wide distribution, this mountainous snake remains poorly understood. The snake is known to primarily feed on frogs, and females have been recorded to produce 11 to 23 eggs per clutch, which hatch from May to August (2).

The big-eyed mountain keelback is primarily threatened by habitat loss (2).

In some areas of its range, this snake is classified as ‘major protected wildlife’ (2). The species can also be found in a number of protected areas, such as Wolong Nature Reserve in China (4) and Ao Phang Nga National Park in Thailand (5). This snake shows great variation in colour across its range, and genetic studies into its taxonomic status is desperately needed, in addition to further ecological, biological and behavioural research (2).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.