Oligodon
Genus of snakes
title: "Oligodon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["oligodon", "taxa-named-by-leopold-fitzinger", "snake-genera"] description: "Genus of snakes" topic_path: "general/oligodon" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligodon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of snakes ::
| image = Oligodon affinis.jpg | image_caption = Western kukri snake (Oligodon affinis) | taxon = Oligodon | authority = Fitzinger, 1826 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 91 known species | type_species = Oligodon bitorquatus
Oligodon is genus of colubrid snakes that was first described by Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. This genus is widespread throughout central and tropical Asia. The snakes of this genus are commonly known as kukri snakes.
Description
The species in the genus Oligodon are egg eaters and are usually under 90 cm (35 in) in total length (including tail). Different species display widely variable patterns and colorations. They subsist mostly by scavenging the eggs of birds and reptiles. Besides eggs, species of this genus also feeds on lizards, frogs, and small rodents.
Oligodon is a rear-fanged snake genus. All member species have a set of enlarged teeth placed in the back of the upper jaws, as well as functional Duvernoy's glands. They are not dangerous to humans, though. Bites by some species have been reported to bleed excessively, suggesting presence of anticoagulants in the Duvernoy's gland secretions. Species of Oligodon are mostly nocturnal, and live on the floor of mature forests.
The common name of the genus comes from the kukri, a distinctively shaped Nepalese knife, which is similar in shape to the broad, flattened, curved hind teeth of Oligodon species. These teeth are specially adapted for their main diet of eggs; the teeth cut open eggs as they are being swallowed by the snake, allowing for easier digestion.
At least three species (O. fasciolatus, O. formosanus and O. ocellatus) will slice open the abdomens of frogs and toads and devour their internal organs, before finally swallowing the prey whole (if the prey is not too large to be swallowed). That toads can be swallowed whole suggests that at least some species are immune to toad bufotoxin. File:Oligodon fasciolatus eating Asian common toad 2.jpg|O. fasciolatus eating Asian common toad File:Oligodon ocellatus eating Duttaphrynus melanostictus.jpg|O. ocellatus eating an Asian common toad. File:Oligodon formosanus eating Kaloula pulchra 3.jpg|O. formosanus eating a banded bullfrog
Species
There are 91 recognized species in the genus Oligodon according to the Reptile Database as of October 2025.
The source column gives direct links to the sources used:
- IUCN description of species at International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Red List categories are: :: - Extinct, - Extinct in the Wild :: - Critically Endangered, - Endangered, - Vulnerable :: - Near Threatened, - Least Concern :: - Data Deficient, - Not Evaluated
- RDB description of species at Reptile Database.
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Oligodon.
::data[format=table]
| Image | Common name | Species | Geographic range | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Western Kukri WG.jpg | 120px]] | Western kukri snake, Malabar brown kukri snake | O. affinis | India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu) | |
| [[File:Oligodon albocinctus.jpg | 120px]] | Light-barred kukri snake | O. albocinctus | Nepal, Bangladesh, India (Assam, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh), Myanmar, Vietnam, China (Tibet, Yunnan) | |
| Northern short-headed snake | O. ancorus | Philippines (Mindoro, Luzon) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Annam kukri snake | O. annamensis | Vietnam (Lam Dang Province) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Spotted kukri snake, ringed kukri snake | O. annulifer | Brunei, Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak) | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:BandedKukriSnake-June2015-01.JPG | 120px]] | Russet kukri snake, common kukri snake, banded kukri | O. arnensis | Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India (West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab), Pakistan, Nepal | |
| [[File:Oligodon barroni, Barron's kukri snake - Tha Yang District, Phetchaburi (28042483455).jpg | 120px]] | Barron's kukri snake | O. barroni | Thailand, Southern Vietnam, Cambodia, South Laos | |
| Javanese mountain kukri snake, Boie's kukri snake | O. bitorquatus | Indonesia (Java, possibly South Sumatra and Sumbawa) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Double-striped kukri snake | O. bivirgatus | China (Hainan) | RDB | ||
| Boo-Liat's kukri snake | O. booliati Leong & Grismer, 2004 | Malaysia (Tioman island) | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Oligodon brevicauda by Sandeep Das.jpg | 120px]] | Short-tailed kukri snake, shorthead kukri snake | O. brevicauda | India (Tamil Nadu, Kerala) | |
| Templeton's kukri snake | O. calamarius | Sri Lanka | RDB | ||
| [[File:Oligodon catenatus Hardwicke.jpg | 120px]] | Assam kukri snake | O. catenatus | India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, South China (Guangdong, Guangxi) | |
| Chinese kukri snake | O. chinensis | southern China, northern Vietnam | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Oligodon churahensis (10.3897-evolsyst.5.72564) Figure 6 (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Churah Valley kukri snake | O. churahensis | India (Himachal Pradesh) | |
| Cicada-eating kukri snake | O. cicadophagus | Thailand | |||
| [[File:Black cross-barred Kukri snake Oligodon cinereus.jpg | 120px]] | Black cross-barred kukri snake, ashy kukri snake, golden kukri snake, Günther's kukri snake | O. cinereus | India (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh), Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, China (Yunnan, Hong Kong, Hainan, Guangxi, Fujian, Guangdong) | |
| O. condaoensis | S Vietnam (Hon Ba Island) | RDB | |||
| Pegu kukri snake | O. cruentatus | Myanmar | IUCN RDB | ||
| O. culaochamensis | Vietnam | RDB | |||
| North-east Indian kukri snake, Cantor's kukri snake | O. cyclurus | India (Assam), Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China (Yunnan), Nepal, Bangladesh | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Oligodon deuvei, Deuve's kukri snake - Mueang Loei District, Loei Province (40930180123).jpg | 120px]] | O. deuvei David, G. Vogel & | |||
| van Rooijen, 2008 | Cambodia, southern Vietnam, Laos, North East Thailand | IUCN RDB | |||
| [[File:Oligodon dorsalis Hardwicke.jpg | 120px]] | Gray's kukri snake, Bengalese kukri snake | O. dorsalis | India (Assam), Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand | |
| Eberhardt's kukri snake | O. eberhardti | Vietnam, China (Guangxi, Fujian), possibly Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar | IUCN RDB | ||
| Nagarkot kukri snake | O. erythrogaster | Central and East Nepal, India (Sikkim) | RDB | ||
| Red-striped kukri snake, Namsang kukri snake | O. erythrorhachis | India (Arunachal Pradesh) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Jewelled kukri snake, Everett's kukri snake | O. everetti | Indonesia (Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sabah) | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Banded Kukri Snake (Oligodon fasciolatus) (7783163348).jpg | 120px]] | Small-banded kukri snake, fasciolated kukri snake | O. fasciolatus | Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam | |
| Forbes' kukri snake | O. forbesi | Indonesia (Selaru and Yamdena in Tanimbar Islands) | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Oligodon formosanus.jpg | 120px]] | Taiwan kukri snake, Formosa kukri snake | O. formosanus | Vietnam, Taiwan, South Japan (Ryukyu Islands, primarily Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), South China (Chekiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Nan Ao Island, Hainan, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Zhejiang, Yunnan) | |
| Hampton's kukri snake | O. hamptoni | Myanmar | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Oligodon huahin, Hua Hin kukri snake - Kaeng Krachan National Park (32625377028).jpg | 120px]] | Hua Hin Kukri Snake | O. huahin Pauwels, Larsen, Suthanthangjai, David & Sumontha, 2017 | Thailand (Hua Hin) | |
| Inornate kukri snake, unicolored kukri snake | O. inornatus | Cambodia, North and East Thailand | IUCN RDB | ||
| Jintakune's kukri snake | O. jintakunei Pauwels, Wallach, David, Chanhome, 2002 | South Thailand | IUCN RDB | ||
| Grey kukri snake, Joynson's kukri snake | O. joynsoni | northern Thailand, possibly Laos, Myanmar, China (Yunnan) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Walnut kukri snake | O. juglandifer | India (Sikkim), West Bhutan | IUCN RDB | ||
| O. kampucheaensis Neang, Grismer & Daltry, 2012 | Cambodia | RDB | |||
| [[File:Full body shot of Coral red kukri (Oligodon kheriensis) from Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India.jpg | 120px]] | coral red kukri snake | O. kheriensis Acharji & Ray, 1936 | India (Uttar Pradesh), Southwest Nepal | |
| Lacroix kukri snake | O. lacroixi | China (Sichuan, Yunnan), Vietnam | IUCN RDB | ||
| Medog kukri snake | O. lipipengi | China (Tibet) | RDB | ||
| O. lungshenensis | China (Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan) | IUCN RDB | |||
| Angel's kukri snake | O. macrurus | Vietnam | IUCN RDB | ||
| Barred short-headed snake, spotted kukri snake | O. maculatus | Philippines (Mindanao) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Arakan kukri snake, McDougall's kukri snake | O. mcdougalli | Myanmar | IUCN RDB | ||
| Bluebelly kukri snake | O. melaneus | India | RDB | ||
| Abor Hills kukri snake | O. melanozonatus | India, China (Tibet) | RDB | ||
| Sulu short-headed snake, Meyerink's kukri snake | O. meyerinkii | Philippine Islands (Bongao, Jolo, Papahang, Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi in Sulu Archipelago), possibly Malaysia (Sabah) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Spotted-bellied short-headed snake, Luzon kukri snake | O. modestus | Philippines (Mindanao, Negros, Tablas, Panay, Cebu, possibly Luzon) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Morice's kukri snake | O. moricei David, G. Vogel & van Rooijen, 2008 | Southern Vietnam | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Oligodon mouhoti.jpg | 120px]] | Cambodian kukri snake, Mouhot's kukri snake | O. mouhoti | Cambodia, East Thailand | |
| Nagao kukri snake | O. nagao David, T.Q. Nguyen, T. Nguyen, Jiang, T. Chen, Teynié & Ziegler, 2012 | Northern Vietnam, Southwest China (Guangxi), Laos | RDB | ||
| Nikhil's kukri snake | O. nikhili | India (Tamil Nadu) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Palawan kukri snake, Palawan short-headed snake | O. notospilus | Philippine Islands (Palawan, Busuanga, Balabac, Mindanao) | RDB | ||
| Eyed kukri snake, ocellated kukri snake | O. ocellatus | Cambodia, Lao, southern Vietnam | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Striped Kukri Snake (Oligodon octolineatus) (6749975673).jpg | 120px]] | Eight-lined kukri snake, eight-striped kukri snake, Grace's kukri snake | O. octolineatus | Brunei, Indonesia (Java, Borneo, Sumatra), Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak), Singapore | |
| Ornate kukri snake | O. ornatus | China (Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang), Taiwan, | IUCN RDB | ||
| Perkin's short-headed snake | O. perkinsi | Philippines (Palawan, Culion and Calauit Islands) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Petronella's kukri snake | O. petronellae | Indonesia (Sumatra) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Pha-Ngan kukri snake | O. phangan | Thailand (Surat Thani Province: Pha-Ngan Island) | RDB | ||
| O. planiceps | Myanmar | IUCN RDB | |||
| Pulau Weh kukri snake | O. praefrontalis | Indonesia (Weh Island) | IUCN RDB | ||
| O. promsombuti | Thailand (Surat Thani Province, Trang Province: Na Yong District) | RDB | |||
| Bleeker's Kukri Snake | O. propinquus | Indonesia (Java) | RDB | ||
| False striped kukri snake | O. pseudotaeniatus David, G. Vogel & van Rooijen, 2008 | Thailand | IUCN RDB | ||
| O. pulcherrimus | Indonesia (Sumatra) | IUCN RDB | |||
| [[File:Oligod purpu 110417-14780 tsa.jpg | 120px]] | Purple kukri snake, brown kukri snake | O. purpurascens | Brunei, Indonesia (Bali, Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra), Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak), Singapore, Thailand | |
| Long-snouted kukri snake | O. rostralis | Vietnam | |||
| [[File:Oligodon Russelius.jpg | 120px]] | Russell's kukri snake | O. russelius | India, Nepal | |
| Saint Girons' kukri snake | O. saintgironsi David, G. Vogel & Pauwels, 2008 | Vietnam, Cambodia | IUCN RDB | ||
| Sai Yok Kukri Snake | O. saiyok Sumontha, Kunya, Dangsri & Pauwels, 2017 | Thailand (Kanchanaburi) | |||
| [[File:Oligodon subcarinatus.jpg | 120px]] | Half-keeled kukri snake, barred kukri snake, banded kukri snake | O. signatus | Indonesia (Sumatra), Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak), Singapore | |
| Cave kukri snake | O. speleoserpens | Thailand | |||
| [[File:Oligodon splendidus.jpg | 120px]] | Splendid kukri snake | O. splendidus | Myanmar | |
| [[File:Oligodon sublineatus (10.3897-zse.91.4971) Figure 1.jpg | 120px]] | Duméril's kukri snake | O. sublineatus | Sri Lanka | |
| [[File:Oligodon taeniatus (Günther, 1861) Striped Kukri Snake (16175431667).jpg | 120px]] | Striped kukri snake | O. taeniatus | Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, possibly China (Yunnan) | |
| [[File:Russell's kukri aka Variegated kukri (Oligodon taeniolatus).jpg | 120px]] | Streaked Kukri snake, Loos snake | O. taeniolatus | Afghanistan, India, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan | |
| Teynié's kukri snake | O. teyniei | Laos | |||
| Mandalay kukri snake, Theobald's kukri snake | O. theobaldi | Bangladesh, Myanmar | IUCN RDB | ||
| Tillack's kukri snake | O. tillacki | India | |||
| O. tolaki | Indonesia (Southeast Sulawesi) | RDB | |||
| O. torquatus | Myanmar | IUCN RDB | |||
| Travancore kukri snake | O. travancoricus | India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu) | IUCN RDB | ||
| [[File:Three-lined Kukri Snake Oligodon trilineatus (7067734773).jpg | 120px]] | Three-lined kukri snake | O. trilineatus | Indonesia (Nias, Siberut, Sumatra) | |
| Langbian kukri snake | O. tuani | Vietnam | RDB | ||
| O. unicolor | Indonesia (Selaru, Yamdena) | IUCN RDB | |||
| Jerdon's kukri snake | O. venustus | India (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Dark-spined kukri snake, vertebral kukri snake | O. vertebralis | Indonesia (Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sabah) | IUCN RDB | ||
| Bleeker's kukri snake | O. waandersi | Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi, Buton, Sula Islands) | RDB | ||
| Wagner's kukri snake | O. wagneri | Indonesia (Nias) | RDB | ||
| yellow-striped kukri snake | O. woodmasoni | India (Nicobar Islands, possibly Andaman Islands) | RDB | ||
| :: |
References
References
- [[Leopold Fitzinger. German]] and [[Latin]]).
- "Search results Genus: ''Oligodon'' – Exact match". [[Reptile Database]].
- [[Patrick David. (2008). "A new species of the genus ''Oligodon'' Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from northern Vietnam, southern China and central Laos". Zootaxa.
- (1992). "Defensive hemipenis display in the kukri snake ''Oligodon cyclurus ''". Journal of Herpetology.
- (2021). "Yet another kukri snake piercing an anuran abdomen: ''Oligodon ocellatus'' (Morice, 1875) eats ''Duttaphrynus melanostictus'' (Schneider, 1799) in Vietnam". Herpetozoa.
- Bombay Natural History Society. (2005). "Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society". Bombay Natural History Society..
- (2004). "A new species of kukri snake, ''Oligodon'' (Colubridae), from Pulau Tioman, West Malaysia". Asiatic Herpetological Research.
- [[species:Zeeshan Ayaz Mirza. Mirza, Zeeshan A.]]; [[species:Virender Kumar Bhardwaj. Bhardwaj, Virender Kumar]]; [[species:Harshil Patel. Patel, Harshil]] (2021). "A New Species of the Genus ''Oligodon'' Boie ''in'' Fitzinger, 1826 (Reptilia, Serpentes) from the Western Himalayas". ''Evolutionary Systematics'' '''5''' (2): 335–345. (''Oligodon churahensis'', new species).
- (2000). "Red book of threatened mammals of Bangladesh". IUCN Bangladesh.
- (2008). "A revision of the ''Oligodon taeniatus'' (Günther, 1861) group (Squamata: Colubridae), with the description of three new species from the Indochinese Region". Zootaxa.
- [[Bo Beolens. Beolens, Bo]]; [[Michael Watkins (zoologist). Watkins, Michael]]; [[Michael Grayson. Grayson, Michael]] (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN. 978-1-4214-0135-5. (''Oligodon everetti'', p. 86).
- Beolens et al. (2011). p. 91.
- (2017). "A new kukri snake (Colubridae: Oligodon) from Hua Hin District, and the first record of O. Deuvei from Thailand". Zootaxa.
- (2002). "A new species of ''Oligodon'' Fitzinger, 1826 (Serpentes, Colubridae) from southern peninsular Thailand". Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University.
- [[species:Thy Neang. Neang T]], Grismer LL, [[Jennifer C. Daltry. Daltry JC]] (2012). [http://www.rufford.org/files/Zootaxa%203388%2041%E2%80%9355%20(2012).pdf "A new species of kukri snake (Colubridae: ''Oligodon'' Fitzinger, 1826) from the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Cardamom Mountains, southwest Cambodia] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-09-24 ". ''Zootaxa'' '''3388''': 41–55.)
- [[species:M.N. Acharji. Acharji MN]], [[species:H.C. Ray. Ray HC]] (1936). "A new species of ''Oligodon'' from the United Provinces (India)". ''Records of the Indian Museum, Calcutta'' '''38''': 519–520.
- Beolens et al. (2011). p. 149.
- Beolens et al. (2011). p. 183.
- (2012). "A new species of the genus ''Oligodon'' Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from northern Vietnam, southern China and central Laos". Zootaxa.
- Beolens et al. (2011). pp. 70, 205.
- Beolens et al. (2011). p. 231.
- (2017). "''Oligodon saiyok'', a new limestone-dwelling kukri snake (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand". Zootaxa.
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