New records of hump-nosed viper Hypnale nepa from the Horton Plains, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Sri Lankan Hump-nosed Viper, Hypnale nepa (Laurenti, 1768) is an endemic species restricted to montane regions above 900 m in Sri Lanka. The Horton Plains is a national park and a montane forest (alt. 2,100–2,300 m a.s.l.) mostly covered by wet grasslands. Faunal surveys carried out in the Horton Plains have so far recorded only three species of snakes: Aspidura trachyprocta, A. copei, and Ptyas mucosa. Herein, we confirm a fourth snake species, and the first photographic