A Comparative Study of Strike Range and Accuracy in Boiga melanota and Dendrelaphis pictus

Muhammad Irfan, Azizan (2022) A Comparative Study of Strike Range and Accuracy in Boiga melanota and Dendrelaphis pictus. [Final Year Project Report] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

As snake-human conflicts are increasing due to the expansion of urbanisation across natural habitats, a general protective measure or guideline can be constructed by understanding the behavioural ecology of this diverse group. This study was aimed at identifying the specific stimulus associated with the accuracy in predatory strikes by two species of snakes- Boiga melanota and Dendrelaphis pictus, both members of the family Colubridae. Results of this study show that two of three stimuli tested resulted in a strike with a consistent increasing trend throughout the individuals. Heat stimulus was the only stimulus with no recorded strikes with the addition of an unknown stimulus was recorded during the experimentation. Based on the strike range of each specimen, the resulting average of snake strike for Melaka and Sarawak localities were 30.8% and 28.3% while strike for both species was 29.4% of total body length. Thus, the study successfully identified that a snake strike can be induced without the need of a specific stimulus and strike range is proportional to total body length.

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