The Himalayan keelback (Amphiesma platyceps) is a species of grass snake

Natricinae

Natricinae is a subfamily of the colubrid family of snakes which contains 28 genera. Members of this subfamily include many very common snake species, such as the European Grass Snakes, and the North American Water Snakes.- Genera :...

 found in South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

.

It is known from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 along the sub-Himalayan region, Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

 and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

between 1000 to 3600 m elevation.

Description

Eye moderate; rostral just visible from above; suture between the internasals as long as that between the pre-frontals or shorter; frontal longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals; loreal longer than deep ; one pre-ocular (sometimes divided); two or three postoculars; temporals 1+1, or 1+2, or 2+2; upper labials 8, third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye; 4 or 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are much shorter than the posterior. Scales in 19 rows faintly or feebly keeled. 177-235 ventrals; anal divided; subcaudals 75-107. Olive-brown above, with small black spots; frequently two black parallel lines or an elliptic marking on the nape; a light, black-edged streak on each side of the head, or a black line from eye to gape; belly yellowish, with or without blackish dots; frequently a black line or series of elongate blackish spots along each side of the belly; lower surface of tail frequently mottled with blackish; throat sometimes black. In life, a coral-red band is said to run along the ends of the ventrals.

Total length 90 cm (3 feet); tail 23 cm (9 inches).

Further reading

• Blyth, EDWARD. 1855 Notices and descriptions of various reptiles, new or little known [part 2]. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Calcutta, 23 (3): 287-302 [1854]
• Cardew, A.G. 1896 A rough key to the identification of Indian ophidia. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 10: 585-596
• Hubrecht, A.A.W. 1882 List of reptiles and amphibians brought from British India by Mr. Francis Day. Notes Leyden Mus., Leiden 4: 138-144
• Kramer, E. 1977 Zur Schlangenfauna Nepals. Rev. suisse Zool., 84 (3): 721-761.
• Malnate, E. V. 1966 Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth) and Amphiesma sieboldii (Günther): sibling species (Reptilia: Serpentes). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 63 (1): 1-17
• Schleich, H.H. & Kästle, W. 2002 Amphibians and Reptiles of Nepal. Koeltz, Königstein, 1200 pp.
• Shaw, G.E.; Shebbeare, E.O. & Barker, P.E. 1939 The snakes of northern Bengal and Sikkim, Part 4. The colubrine snakes. J. Darjeeling Nat. Hist. Soc. 13: 114-123
• Shaw, G.E.; Shebbeare, E.O. & Barker, P.E. 2000 The snakes of Sikkim and Bengal [reprint]. Asiatic Publ. House (Delhi), 125 pp.
• Steindachner,F. 1867 Ueber drei neue Schlangenarten [Calamaria philippinica]. Verh. zool.-botan. Ges. Wien 17: 513-516
• Tillack, F. 2003 Über die Verbreitung und Biologie der Himalaya-Gebirgswassernatter Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth 1854) und einen Fall von Amphigonia retardata (Serpentes: ColubridaNatricinae). Sauria 25 (1): 21-27
• Wall, F. 1913 A new snake of the genus Tropidonotus from the Eastern Himalayas. Tropidonotus Firthi, spec. nov. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 23: 166
• Wall,F. 1923 A Hand-list of the Snakes of the Indian Empire. Part 2. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 29: 598-632