Keel-bellied Water Snake Bitia hydroides
Description
The keel-bellied water snake (Bitia hydroides) is a marine homalopsine snake. It belongs to the monotypic genus Bitia.[2]
It is found in Malaysia.
Bitia hydroides is noted for its unusual dentition. In all other snakes, any enlarged teeth are located on the dentary or maxilla, with the inner, palatine teeth of the upper jaw being smaller. In Bitia hydroides, the palatine teeth are greatly enlarged. Not enough is known about this animal's feeding behavior or ecology to attempt to infer a function of this peculiar arrangement.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Keel-bellied water snake", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
Common Names
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Homalopsidae
Genus: Bitia
Species: Keel-bellied Water Snake Bitia hydroides
Conservation Status
least concern (LC)