European cat snake

The European cat snake (Telescopus fallax), also known as the Mediterranean cat snake, is a venomous colubrid snake endemic to the Mediterranean and Caucasus regions.

Geographic range

It occurs in Italy, Greece (Paros, Antiparos, Tourlos, Crete, Kalymnos, Samos, Milos, Corfu), Albania, coastal Slovenia, Croatia (including some Adriatic islands), Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, southern Bulgaria, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, southern Russia (Caucasus region), Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

Ecology and biology

The European cat snake is venomous, but because it is rear-fanged (fangs are located at the back of the upper jaw), it rarely injects its venom in defensive biting, and is therefore considered no threat to humans. It feeds mainly on geckos and lizards.^{[citation needed]}

The species can be found in open and scrubby country including beaches and open woodlands.^[1]

Cat snakes can reach a length of up to 100cms ^[2]

Subspecies

5 subspecies are currently recognized.^[3]

Telescopus fallax cyprianus (Barbour & Amaral, 1927) - Cyprus
Telescopus fallax fallax (Fleischmann, 1831) - Northeastern Italy, Greece (Paros, Mykonos, Antiparos, Crete, Kalymnos, Samos, Kimolos, Milos, Corfu, Syros), Albania, coastal Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, southern Bulgaria, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, southern Russia, Armenia, Republic of Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
Telescopus fallax iberus (Eichwald, 1831) - Armenia, Azerbaijan, South Georgia, southern Russia, northern Iran, and East Turkey.
Telescopus fallax pallidus (Stepanek, 1944) - Crete, Gavdos, Elasa and Christiana Islands.
Telescopus fallax syriacus (Boettger, 1880) - Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, southeast Turkey and northern Israel.

References

^ a b c Aram Agasyan; Aziz Avci; Boris Tuniyev; Jelka Crnobrnja Isailovic; Petros Lymberakis; Claes Andrén; Dan Cogalniceanu; John Wilkinson; Natalia Ananjeva; Nazan Üzüm; et al. (2009). "Telescopus fallax". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T157258A5062870. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T157258A5062870.en. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ page 193 https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/ymhADwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA191&dq=European+cat+snake
^ "Telescopus fallax".

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Telescopus fallax.

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