Olivaceous Smooth Snake

Open encyclopedia reference

Rhabdops olivaceus, the olive trapezoid snake or olive forest snake, is a snake endemic to the Western Ghats of India. Following the description of populations in Goa, northernmost Karnataka, and southern Maharashtra as a new species, Rhabdops aquaticus, the known range of Rhabdops olivaceus is from Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala north to Kottigehara in Karnataka, and possibly slightly further.

This species is found in damp steamsides within rainforests and is distributed from Palghat in Kerala to the Malanad area of Karnataka. It is a docile, placid snake and is said to be semiaquatic, feeding on small, soft-bodied animals. In habits, it is more frequently seen during the rains, both day or night.

Wikipedia contributors, Rhabdops olivaceus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:34:48.129501+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Rhabdops olivaceus (Beddome, 1863)

Name authority

(Beddome, 1863)

Common name

Olivaceous Smooth Snake

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Colubridae

Genus

Rhabdops

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
12. familyColubridae
13. subfamilyNatricinae
14. genusRhabdops
15. speciesRhabdops olivaceus (Beddome, 1863)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Rhabdops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 1,632 records assigned to Colubridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Rhabdops&species=olivaceus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4RW75. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.