A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Rhabdophis nigrocinctus
This beautiful south East Asian snake is unique!It possess a pair of specialised glands called nuchal glands under the skin of neck region which secrete bufadienolides which is related to digitalis,and thus cardiotoxic.It acquires the toxin by consuming toads secreting it. First described in a Japanese natricine snake, Rhabdophis tigrinus, in 1935, these organs are embedded under the skin of the neck region as a series of paired glands that have neither lumina nor ducts. Spotted it in Khao Sok National Park during my hike.
Spotted on Dec 19, 2019
Submitted on Dec 19, 2019
10 Comments
Thank you Payal
Wow man..what a wonderful spotting and congratulations for your nomination.. you deserve it..!!!
Indeed tropical forests are biodiversity hotspots!
I will love being able to document species in Asia once I'm there, I can't wait! It's so much more diversity there than the cold north, I will probably be occupied for years :D Keep up the awsome work you do ;)
Thank you Gaia.I too wasn't aware of this group of snakes possessing nuchal glands before I spotted this one!
How interesting, I didn't know snakes had the ability to store toxins from the species they consume, congratulations with the nomination :)
Thank you Mark and PN Team for nomination!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Thank you!
great pics!!