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Venomous Terrestrial Snakes of Malaysia: Their Identity and Biology

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Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI,volume 2))

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the identity and biology of the venomous terrestrial snakes of Malaysia, from Peninsular Malaysia and the Bornean states of Sabah and Sarawak. Two families account for a majority of venomous snakes that are of medical significance – the Elapidae (cobras, kraits, and coral snakes) and Viperidae (vipers and pit vipers). Certain members of the Colubridae are capable of giving life-threatening bites to humans (especially species of Rhabdophis), but little is known of the Malaysian species of the genus. A number of other species in the family have been implicated with human envenomation, although little objective evaluation appears to have been published. This article synthesizes data on the identification, distribution, and conservation of these snakes; provide colored images of every recognized species and subspecies of venomous terrestrial snakes of the families Elapidae and Viperidae known to occur in the country; and conclude with strategies to improve knowledge of the snakes of the country.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Indraneil Das

  2. School of Environment and Natural Resource Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Norhayati Ahmed

  3. Taman Cuepacs, 43200, Cheras, Selangor, Malaysia

    Lim Boo Liat

Authors
  1. Indraneil Das
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  2. Norhayati Ahmed
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  3. Lim Boo Liat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Indraneil Das .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Venom and Toxin Research Programme Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    P. Gopalakrishnakone

  2. Professor of Medicine (Rtd), Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Abul Faiz

  3. Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Ravindra Fernando

  4. Department of Clinical Medicine Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Christeine Ariaranee Gnanathasan

  5. Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit Department of Medicine, Bayero University Kano Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

    Abdulrazaq Garba Habib

  6. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chen-Chang Yang

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Das, I., Ahmed, N., Liat, L.B. (2015). Venomous Terrestrial Snakes of Malaysia: Their Identity and Biology. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P., Faiz, A., Fernando, R., Gnanathasan, C., Habib, A., Yang, CC. (eds) Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa. Toxinology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6386-9_5

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