Northern Western Ghats Vine Snake

Fascinating facts about the Northern Western Ghats Vine Snake

• A 2020 study split the once-single “A. nasuta” into at least five distinct species, including the northern Western Ghats vine snake.
• At up to 1 m long, this snake sports a slender body that blends into the olive-green canopy, yet its head is sharply set apart from the neck – a visual cue that helps researchers tell it apart from its close relatives in the field.
• Its scale count is remarkably precise: 174–181 ventrals with notches, 142–157 divided subcaudals, and dorsal rows arranged in a 15-15-13/11 pattern. Such detailed scalation lets taxonomists confirm identity even when colors fade in museum specimens.
• It lives between 300 m and 750 m above sea level in moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests from Sirsi in Karnataka to Matheran in Maharashtra.

At a glance

About the Northern Western Ghats Vine Snake

The northern Western Ghats vine snake, Ahaetulla borealis, glides through the mist-laden canopies of India's northern Western Ghats with a striking palette of olive and light greens, its dorsal scales edged in brown like brushstrokes on a living canvas. Its eyes, a vivid yellow-orange ringed with light brown marbling, betray a keen predator, while a horizontal pupil flanked by a subtle blue or yellow halo hints at its arboreal lifestyle. A slender, elongated head sits atop a body that can reach a full meter, ending in a long, tapering tail. The snake’s scalation includes 174–181 ventrals, each notched with keels, and 142–157 divided subcaudals, arranged in smooth, obliquely disposed rows. A occasional blue-tinged ventral stripe runs along the notched keels, visible when the snake arches its body. In the moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests that carpet elevations between 300 and 750 m, A. borealis hunts amidst the dappled light, its slender form allowing it to navigate twigs and leaves with precision. The species’ range stretches from Sirsi in Karnataka northward to Matheran in Maharashtra, a corridor that borders the range of its close relative A. farnsworthi, likely separated by the Sharavathi River basin. This geographic breadth makes it one of the most widespread Ahaetulla in the Western Ghats.

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