Table Of Content

MISCELLANEOUSNOTES STRANGE DEATH OF A SNAKE 14. OnMay27, 1999 whilewatching grizzled mouth. The snake and its prey were remarkably giant squirrels (Ratufa macroura) in Chinnar undamaged. Twoclawsofthe lizard’shindlimb Wildlife Sanctuary, I saw a dead snake lying were stuck in the comer ofthe snake’s mouth, entangledamongthebranchesofatamarindtree. and probably during its effort to regurgitate the At my request, the ‘Hill Pulaya’ accompanying prey, the claws of its right forelimb also meclimbedthetreeandbroughtthesnakedown. penetrated the snake’s gullet and skin, resulting It must have been dead for at least a couple of in the death ofthe snake. weeksandwasabsolutelydry. Stuckinitsmouth Behura (JBNHS 50(1): 183) mentions a was a large Calotes calotes, about 40 cm in Xenochrophispiscatordyinginapondasaresult length (including tail) that had been almost of‘swallowinga8.1 inchlongfish’ andprobably completel—y swallowed. The hot dry climate of getting thepectoral spines ofthe fish stuckin its Chinna—r in May, day temperature reaches mouth, so that it could not be swallowed or 38 °C hadmummifiedthe snake and itsprey. regurgitated. Snakesrarelychoketodeathonprey, The snake was identified as Dendrelaphis fortheycanextendtheirwindpipealongthefloor tristis (Family Colubridae). Its total length was ofthe mouth to breathe during feeding, and also, 78 cm. The lizard couldbe seen clearly through theyseldomtackle animalstoobig to swallow. the tautly stretched skin of the snake’s neck region. Even the white bands on the lizard’s March 3, 2000 V.P.AJITH green body were visible through the snake’s Panikaseril House, stretched skin. The 20 cm long tail and the hind KodungallurP.O., Pin 680 664, legsofthelizardwerestickingoutofthesnake’s Kerala, India. 15. SIZE ANALYSIS AND DISTRIBUTION OF JERDON’S BULL FROG HOPLOBATRACHUSCRASSUS(JERDON 1835) IN ASSAM Hoplobatrachus crassus a close relative breeding season (April to September, 1998). The , ofH. tigerinus (Family Ranidae), was recently date and time of collection, habitat and micro- reportedfromnortheasternIndiabyBordoloiand habitat, andweather conditions were noted. Each Bora (1999). Earlier, the easternmost limit of specimen was measured for morphometric ana- distribution of H. crassus was West Bengal lysis. Statisticalanalysis (ttests) were carriedout. (Sarkar et al. 1992). It is possible that previous Hoplobatrachus crassus has a wide workers confused the two congeners and failed distribution inthe Brahmaputra Valley ofAssam, m to record the former from parts of its range up to an altitude of 180 above msl. It is most (Daniel 1975).Thepresentcommunicationdeals abundant in the flood plains, especially in withthe distribution ofH. crassus inAssamand waterlogged agricultural fields. Of 23 specimens providesacomparisonofmorphometricfeatures collected, 12 were frompaddy fields, 5 fromwet ofthese two species. grasslands,3 fromsugarcanefields,2fromoxbow Specimens ofHoplobatrachus crassus and lakeslocallyknownasbeelsandonefromamoist H. tigerinuswerecollectedusingvisualencounter open field with short broad-leaved grass. It was surveys. A total of 73 man-hours were spent in found on both banks of the Brahmaputra river: collecting 23 adult(15d and 8 9)//. crassus and Sibsagar, Golaghat, Kamrup, Goalpara, Barpeta, 49 adult (27 d and22 9) H. tigerinus during the Nalbari, Darang, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur. 286 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(2), AUG. 2000