NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Indian Flying Snake
Chrysopelea taprobanica Smith, 1943
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.
Sri Lanka Flying Snake
Gihan Jayaweera · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Chrysopelea taprobanica, the Sri Lankan flying snake or Indian flying snake, is a species of gliding colubrid snake distributed in India and Sri Lanka. It can glide, as with all species of its genus Chrysopelea, by stretching the body into a flattened strip using its ribs. The snake is known as "dangara dandaa - දඟරදන්ඩා" in Sinhala, due to its folding postures.
Wikipedia contributors, Chrysopelea taprobanica; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:21:58.949994+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Chrysopelea taprobanica Smith, 1943
- Name authority
- Smith, 1943
- Common name
- Indian Flying Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Chrysopelea
- 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
- familyColubridae
- genusChrysopelea
- speciesChrysopelea taprobanica Smith, 1943
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Chrysopelea. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| (Paradise Flying SnakeChrysopelea paradisi Boie, 1827 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Moluccan Flying SnakeChrysopelea rhodopleuron Boie, 1827 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Golden Flying SnakeChrysopelea ornata (Shaw, 1802) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Banded Flying SnakeChrysopelea pelias (Linnaeus, 1758) | ColubridaeChordata | 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=Chrysopelea&species=taprobanica 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:5Z38W. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.