Lycodon aulicus
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Lycodon aulicus, commonly known as the Indian wolf snake and the common wolf snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Early naturalists suggested its resemblance to the venomous common krait, an instance of Batesian mimicry.
The colouration of this snake is variable. This snake is often confused with the common krait. The presence of a loreal shield can be used to distinguish it from kraits. The following is a description of various forms from Albert Günther's Reptiles of British India (1864).
Snout broad, much depressed, long, spatulate, with the upper lip swollen, and without canthus rostralis. Rostral shield very low, broad, slightly bent backwards on the upper surface of the snout; anterior frontals [= internasals] very small; posterior frontals [= prefrontals] longer than broad, much more so in adult specimens than in young ones; there is a lateral notch between the anterior and posterior frontals, in which the inner anterior angle of the loreal is received; the posterior frontals have an obtuse lateral angle corresponding to the suture between loreal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiruvananthapuram Zoo | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Wolf Snake sighting in Mumbai on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 15th most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–March and July–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Wolf Snake in Mumbai on a given day, against under 5% in April–June and October–December, the lowest months.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Wolf Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
8th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Indian Wolf Snake sightings, Mumbai ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Lucknow (India, about 50%), Chattogram (Bangladesh, about 50%) and Thrissur (India, about 30%).
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Indian Wolf Snake that you can see in Mumbai (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Dhaman (about 20%), Chequered Keelback (about 20%) and Buff Striped Keelback (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Wolf Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Mumbai (8 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
