identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
5F0D1B49FFC3146979B79196FC1FFD01.text	5F0D1B49FFC3146979B79196FC1FFD01.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Boiga melanota (BOULENGER 1896)	<div><p>BOIGA MELANOTA (BOULENGER, 1896)</p><p>– WESTERN MANGROVE CAT SNAKE</p><p>Until recently the Mangrove Cat Snakes, or just Mangrove Snakes, of Thailand were considered to belong to the species  Boiga dendrophila (Boie, 1827), subspecies  melanota . But in a phylogenetic study based on sequencing of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA,  melanota was elevated to species level (WEINELL et al., 2020). The taxon  Boiga tanahjampeana proved to be the sister taxon of  melanota, which caused  dendrophila s.l. to be paraphyletic. Since the authors preferred to maintain the species level status of the morphologically distinct  tanahjampeana, elevating  B. dendrophila melanota to the taxonomic status of a species was required.</p><p>Members of the  B. dendrophila complex are not likely to be confused with any other species in their habitat: the body colour is deep black with yellow vertical bars, although cases of melanism or the yellow pattern replaced by a whitish coloration occur (VOGEL, 2000). The head is black above with bright-yellow, blackedged labials. The chin and the anterior part of the throat are yellow. They are large colubrids attaining a total length up to 250 cm, allegedly even 280 cm, and the body is vertically compressed. They are rear-fanged and venomous with enlarged grooved maxillary teeth and the palatine teeth are also enlarged (SMITH, 1943). Though several colubrids like the genera  Dispholidus,  Philodryas,  Rhabdophis, Tachymenis and  Thelotornis contain species responsible for serious (including fatal) human envenomations,  B. dendrophila s.l. and other members of the genus  Boiga are generally not considered dangerous to humans and other large mammals (MINTON, 1990; DAVID &amp; INEICH, 1999; SAVIOLA et al., 2014; WEINSTEIN, 2017). Earlier studies of Duvernoy’s secretions of  B. melanota determined by injection in mice demonstrated low lethal potency (WEINSTEIN &amp; SMITH, 1993; MACKESSY, 2002). Their toxins are, nevertheless, tremendously powerful to other vertebrates.</p><p>B. melanota is a common arboreal species in South Thailand where it occurs in a variety of evergreen and mixed dipterocarp forests, including secondary forests (CHAN-ARD et al., 2015). It is usually found in well-watered areas such as edges of streams, rivers and mangrove swamps (GRISMER, 2011). It is also a good swimmer. In spite of their nocturnal habits members of the  B. dendrophila complex are commonly encountered during the day coiled in branches though it may also retreat into tree holes (DAVID &amp; VOGEL, 1996; GRISMER, 2011). Being large and conspicuously coloured they may be easily detected and potentially killed by humans.</p><p>The diet of  B. dendrophila s.l. is well documented and consists of a wide variety of birds and lizards, but regularly mammals, snakes and frogs are eaten, and to a small extent even crabs, slugs and possibly fish (GREENE, 1989, VOGEL, 2000, BRINGSØE, in press).</p><p>OBSERVATIONS</p><p>At 20:25 h on 25 February 2020 (one hour after sunset), north of <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">Hala Bala</a>, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">Chanae district</a>, Narathiwat province, Thailand (5.82477° N, 101.84714° E; WGS 84; 50 m elev.), the author observed an adult  B. melanota (184 cm total length, see fig.2) swimming in shallow water near the bank of the <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">Ba La River</a>, a tributary to the larger <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">Ko Lok River</a> which forms the border to Malaysia. <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">The</a> habitat was uncultivated land with scattered trees and shrub vegetation along the stream, and bordered rubber plantations (fig. 3). <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">This</a> individual showed a severe injury on the left and posterior part of the head's dorsal side (figs. 4-5). <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">The</a> wound was deep and had especially affected the left labial region, and a considerable portion of the underlying bone had been destroyed and was missing. <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=101.84714&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=5.82477" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 101.84714/lat 5.82477)">Hence</a> the mouth could not close properly on the left side. The wound also reached the dorsal side of the head just behind the left eye. Here it was bifurcated: the larger cut went from behind the eye obliquely toward the median line of the head, whereas a minor cut started from behind the eye obliquely towards the neck. A superficial scar appeared in the left side of the anterior part of dorsum (figs. 5-6).</p><p>There was no indication of infection and though the wounds were not fully healed, they seemed to be in the process of healing. The underside of the head and of the anterior part of the body proved undamaged and without any sign of injury or wound. Possibly the left venom gland had been destroyed. The snake appeared well-nourished, strong, aggressive and healthy, so the critical phase might have been passed successfully.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/5F0D1B49FFC3146979B79196FC1FFD01	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Bringsøe, Henrik	Bringsøe, Henrik (2020): Severe head injury in Boiga melanota (Boulenger, 1896) observed in the southeastern corner of Thailand. Pod @ rcis 11 (2): 51-58, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15593086
