Platyceps najadum, also known commonly as Dahl's whip snake, the slender whip snake, and the Zagros whip snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Eurasia. Four subspecies are recognized as being valid.
P. najadum was first described by Karl Eichwald in 1831,[1] as Tyria najadum.[2]
P. najadum is found in the Balkans, Aegean, Cyprus, the Mid-East, and as far as Turkmenistan and the Caucasus Mountains.[3]
P. najadum occurs in dry and xeric environments in a wide range of habitats: in desert and rocky land, in forests, woodland scrub, and agricultural land from sea level to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) altitude. It is commonly found in fields, and seen crushed on roads.
P. najadum has a slim body, and is rarely over a metre (39 inches) in total length (including tail).[4]
P. najadum is threatened by direct persecution, forest fires and intensive agriculture, where its range interacts with human interests.[1]
P. najadum is an egg laying species. Females lay between 3 and 16 eggs in a clutch.[1]
Four[2] subspecies are identified, including the nominotypical subspecies.
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Platyceps.
Both the subspecific name, dahlii, and the common name, Dahl's whip snake, are in honor of Austrian entomologist Georg Dahl (1769–1831) who collected the type specimen in Dalmatia in 1824.[5]
The subspecific name, schmidtleri, is in honor of German herpetologist Josef Friedrich Schmidtler (born 1942).[6]
Σαϊτα (Greek), Saita, Стрелушка (Bulgarian), šilac (Croatian), Za'aman Z'eitani (Hebrew), Ok Yılanı (Turkish).
Platyceps najadum, also known commonly as Dahl's whip snake, the slender whip snake, and the Zagros whip snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Eurasia. Four subspecies are recognized as being valid.
