New Distributional Records of Russell’s Vipers, Daboia russelii (Shaw and Nodder 1797),
in BangladeshNaim Khandakar and Kamrun Nahar Jeny
Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh ([email protected])
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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S
Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190
The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198
R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S
The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212
C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
H U S B A N D R Y
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
P R O F I L E
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
C O M M E N T A R Y
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
B O O K R E V I E W
Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243
CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.
Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo
estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque
moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as
IRC
F
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y
Russell’s Viper, Daboia russelii (Fig. 1), is distributed inter-mittently throughout the Indian Subcontinent, where it
occurs in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka (Uetz et al. 2019). The species has been assessed as Near Threatened in Bangladesh (Rahman 2015) although an earlier assessment had listed it as Critically Endangered (IUCN Bangladesh 2000). Most publications mentioning Russell’s Vipers in Bangladesh are limited to checklists or dis-tributional records. Notable exceptions are studies by Islam (2009) and Hasan et al. (2014), who provided information on ecology, mainly from the literature.
These snakes inhabit plains to elevations of 2,100 m in southern India (Daniel 2002), where it is found in open, grassy or shrubby areas, scrub jungles, forested plantations, rocky hillocks, forest edges, mangroves, and farmlands (Whitaker and Captain 2004). The species is terrestrial and nocturnal, with a diet comprised of rodents, crabs, frogs, liz-ards, and birds (Das 2002). Russell’s Vipers had been recorded in 17 of 64 districts in Bangladesh (Ahsan and Saeed 2018). Recent reports have added five more districts (Fig. 2). Herein we summa-rize the past and present distribution of Russell’s Vipers in Bangladesh. We collected distributional data from national and local newspapers, online news portals, wildlife conservation groups,
and social media outlets. The previously known distribution was mainly along the Padma and Meghna Rivers and their tributaries. However, one new record in the Tangail District involved snakes in water-filled paddies and another in the Chandpur District was based on a snake rescued from a pond in Koralia. We suggest that snakes might have been carried to new locations by recent floodwaters, as in Fig. 1, but survived and have since reproduced.
Fig. 1. A Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Photograph by Lisun Asib Khan.
IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324
Fig. 2. Distribution of Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) in Bangladesh.
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Literature CitedAhsan M.F. and M.A. Saeed. 2018. Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) in Bangladesh:
Its boom and threat to human life. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Science 44: 15–22.
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