Euprepiophis conspicillata
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Euprepiophis conspicillata, commonly known as the Japanese forest rat snake, is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to Japan. Its Japanese common name, jimuguri, roughly translates to "the burrower". It is closely related to Euprepiophis mandarinus, the Mandarin rat snake.
Euprepiophis conspicillata is native to all four main islands of Japan, including some smaller outlying islands, as well as Kunashir Island (territory disputed between Japan and Russia). Adults are usually 70 to 100 cm (2.3 to 3.3 ft) in total length (body + tail).
In recent years there has been some taxonomic controversy over the genera of rat snakes. Based on mitochondrial DNA, Utiger et al. (2002) argued for a splintering of the genus Elaphe and suggested a reworking of the genera.
However, all published taxonomy remains a taxonomic suggestion until ruled on by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN - https://www.iczn.org/), but that body has so far not supported the change and has not addressed the taxonomic suggestion. Thus the official taxonomy remains Elaphe.
The Japanese forest rat snake can be... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Burrowing Ratsnake sighting in Tokyo on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 13th most-seen of the 15 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Burrowing Ratsnake in Tokyo on a given day, against under 5% in June–September and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Burrowing Ratsnake sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Tokyo, in our data
Tokyo is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Burrowing Ratsnake sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Burrowing Ratsnake that you can see in Tokyo (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Japanese Rat Snake (about 20%), Japanese Four-lined Ratsnake (about 10%) and Japanese Keelback (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Burrowing Ratsnake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Tokyo (16 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.
