European cat snake

European cat snake
Telescopus fallax from Malta
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Telescopus
Species:	T. fallax
Binomial name
Telescopus fallax (Fleischmann, 1831)
Synonyms
Coluber vivax Fitzinger, 1826 Tarbophis fallax Fleischmann, 1831 Trigonophis iberus Eichwald, 1831 Coluber carneus Dwigubsky, 1832 Ailurophis vivax — Bonaparte, 1837 Tarbophis savignyi Boulenger, 1896

The European cat snake (Telescopus fallax), also known as the Soosan 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, Macedonia, southern Bulgaria, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, southern Russia (Caucasus, Dagestan), Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

Ecology

Head of the European cat snake

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.

The species can be found in open and scrubby country including beaches and open woodlands.

Further reading

• Arnold EN, Burton JA. 1978. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe. London: Collins. 272 pp. + Plates 1-40.
  ISBN 0-00-219318-3. (Telescopus fallax, pp. 207-210 + Plate 38, Figures 4a, 4b + Map 120).
• Fleischmann FL. 1831. Dalmatiae Nova Serpentum Genera. Erlangen, Germany: C. Heyder. 35 pp. (Tarbophis fallax, new species, p. 18).

External links

• Video of Telescopus fallax on YouTube
• Video of Telescopus fallax on YouTube
• Movement of Telescopus fallax on YouTube