NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Montane Ceylon Krait [karavala]
Bungarus ceylonicus Günther, 1864
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
![The Ceylon krait or Sri Lankan krait (Bungarus ceylonicus)[1] is a species of venomous elapid snake which is endemic to the island Sri Lanka](/assets/optimized/e7d3b5ebfef56b4dfd797c74b1b9c795398c26ab6b8f1bd6e630ae4afe3c489c.webp)
The Ceylon krait or Sri Lankan krait (Bungarus ceylonicus)[1] is a species of venomous elapid snake which is endemic to the island Sri Lanka
Buddhika.jm(Buddhika Mawella) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Bungarus ceylonicus, the Ceylon krait or Sri Lankan krait, is a species of venomous elapid snake which is endemic to the island Sri Lanka, locally known as මුදු කරවලා (mudu karawalaa).
Wikipedia contributors, Bungarus ceylonicus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:03:40.056672+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Bungarus ceylonicus Günther, 1864
- Name authority
- Günther, 1864
- Common name
- Montane Ceylon Krait [karavala]
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Elapidae
- Genus
- Bungarus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyElapidae
- genusBungarus
- speciesBungarus ceylonicus Günther, 1864
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Bungarus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Black KraitBungarus niger Wall, 1908 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Red River KraitBungarus slowinskii Kuch, Kizirian, Nguyen, Lawson, Donnelly & Mebs, 2005 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Northeastern Hill KraitBungarus bungaroides (Cantor, 1839) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common kraitBungarus caeruleus (Schneider, 1801) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lesser Black KraitBungarus lividus Cantor, 1839 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| South Andaman KraitBungarus andamanensis Biswas & Sanyal, 1978 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Many-banded KraitBungarus wanghaotingi Pope, 1928 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Many-banded KraitBungarus multicinctus Blyth, 1861 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Banded KraitBungarus fasciatus (Schneider, 1801) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bungarus persicus Abtin, Nilson, Mobaraki, Hosseini & Dehgannejhad, 2014 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Bungarus&species=ceylonicus 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:5WRZ8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.