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Herpetofauna of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is one of the best places in the world to observe and photograph reptiles and amphibians. Currently there are 222 species of reptiles and 119 species of amphibians recorded from Sri Lanka, making a total of 341 species of herps. The Sri Lankan reptile diversity consists of four groups ;snakes, four legged reptiles which includes geckoes, agamid and monitor lizards, skinks, terrapins, tortoises, marine turtles, crocodiles and chameleons. The amphibian diversity of Sri Lanka consists of caecilians, frogs and toads.

The breakdown of Sri Lankan herps are as follows:

Crocodiles

Sri Lanka is home to the largest reptile on earth, the Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and the third largest crocodile in the world, the Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris). Scientific research has proved that Sri Lanka has the highest concentration of Mugger Crocodiles in the world while the Saltwater Crocodile can be seen around the estuaries, mangrove habitats and lagoons. The Mugger Crocodile is found in dry zone tanks, rivers and inland waterbodies.

Lizards

The lizards of Sri Lanka consist of 2 species of monitor lizards, 19 species of agamid lizards, 2 species of snake eye lizards, 46 species of geckoes, 34 species of skinks and a single species of chameleon. The Common Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor) is the commonest along with the Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes) and all the other agamid lizard species are endemic to Sri Lanka. Some of them such as Cerataphora species and Cophotis species have very restricted distribution ranges within the lowland rainforests and montane cloud forests. The recently described Fan throated lizards Sitana bahiri and Sitana devakai are sand dune specialists found in the south and north. The Hump-nosed Lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus) is the only member of the genus has spectacular color variations during the mating season. The other endemic genus Cerataphora is armed with 5 species. The Rhino Horned Lizard (Cerataphora stoddartii) is restricted to the montane forests in the hills. The Leaf Nosed Lizard (Cerataphora tennentii) is restricted to the knuckles mountain range. Cerataphora aspera is restricted to the lowland rain forests, while Erdelen’s Horned Lizard (Cerataphora erdeleni) and Karu’s Horned Lizard (Cerataphora karu) are restricted to the eastern part of the world heritage Sinharaja rain forest.

The gecko diversity is the highest of the lizards which includes species from the genus Hemidactylus, Cnemaspis and Cyrtodactylus. Sri Lanka also has skinks that belong to the genera Eutrophis, and Lankascinicus which forage among leaf litter and the Haly’s Tree Skink (Dasia haliana) being the island’s only arboreal skink found in the dry and intermediate zones.

The two monitor lizards, Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) and Bengal Monitor (Varanus bengalensis) are quite common throughout the country and can be encountered near human settlements as well.

The only species of Chameleon (Chameleo zeylanicus) is a rare species found usually in the northern dry and arid forests.

Marine Turtles

Out of the seven species of marine turtles in the world five come ashore to Sri Lanka to nest. The commonest around the waters of island is the OliveRidley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) is the commonest which comes ashore to nest, Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) is the rarest marine turtle species found in Sri Lanka though it is the commonest in the whole world, and the critically endangered Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) also comes to nest in some of the key turtle nesting sites.

Freshwater Terrapins and Land Tortoises

Many inland water bodies are home to the Hard Shelled Terrapin (Melanochelys trijuga) and Soft Shelled Terrapin (Lissemys ceylonensis). The only land tortoise species found in the island is the Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans) while now there is an alien invasive species called Red Eared Slider (Trachemis scripta), which is expanding its range gradually.

Snakes

Sri Lanka has 105 species of snakes which only 6 land snakes of them are highly venomous. They are the Indian Krait (Bungarus caeruleus), endemic Sri Lankan Krait (Bungarus ceylonicus), Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja),  Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelli), Merrem’s Hump Nosed Viper (Hypnale hypnale) and the Saw Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) which has a restricted distribution range mainly within the sand dunes of the arid zone. The surrounding sea waters around Sri Lanka consists of 15 species of sea snakes which also are highly venomous. Five species of moderately venomous snakes namely the Sri Lanka Coral Snake (Calliophis melanurus), Red Bellied Coral Snake (Calliophis haematoetron) the elegant Sri Lankan Green Pit Viper (Trimeresurus trigonocephalus), Striped Necked Hump Nosed Viper (Hypnale zara), and the Highland Hump Nosed Viper (Hypnale nepa) which the latter four species are endemic to Sri Lanka. The largest snake in Sri Lanka is the Indian Python (Python molurus) which grows about 5 meters long, and the fossorial snake species which belong to the Typhlopidae family are the smallest found in the country. Other endemic jewels include the Sri Lanka Pipe Snake (Cylindrophis maculata), all five species of the genus Aspidura, Sri Lanka Keelback (Balanophis ceylonensis), Checkered Keelback (Xenochrophis asperrimus), Barnes’s Cat Snake (Boiga barnesii), Sri Lanka Wolf Snake (Lycodon carinata), Boulenger’s Bronze Back (Dendrelaphis bifrenalis), Schokari’s Bronze Back (Dendrelaphis schokari), Floweri Wolf Snake (Lycodon osmanhilli), Black Spine Snake (Haplocercus ceylonensis), Templeton’s Kukri Snake (Oligodon calamarius), Dumerul’s Kukri Snake (Oligodon sublineatus), many species of the Typhlopidae and Uropeltidae families.

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