About Ahaetulla farnsworthi Mallik, Srikanthan, Pal, D'Souza, Shanker & Ganesh, 2020
Ahaetulla farnsworthi Mallik, Srikanthan, Pal, D'Souza, Shanker & Ganesh, 2020 has a very slender body. Adults can reach a total length of 1 meter. The dorsum is uniformly bright green to olive green. The rostral scale, infralabials, and venter are yellowish green to light green at the mid-body; a yellow to white ventral stripe runs along the notched ventral keels. There is slight discoloration on the pre-ocular scale. The inter-scalar skin is white, marked with black and white bars that converge anteriorly; this white inter-scalar skin is replaced by reddish brown in the posterior body. The eyes are golden yellow with black speckles, which are concentrated at both the anterior and posterior ends of the horizontal pupil. There is slight discoloration around the pupil. The tail and subcaudals are green. Scalation shows intraspecific variation: ventrals number 167–177 and are notched with keels; divided subcaudals number 141–165 in males and 126–150 in females; the anal scale is divided. Dorsal scale rows are arranged in 13/15/16–15-13/11, consisting of smooth, obliquely placed scales. Supralabials number 7–8, with the 5th supralabial in contact with the eye; the 4th supralabial is divided. A loreal scale is absent. Infralabials number 8–10. Pre-suboculars number 1–2, with 1 pre-ocular on both the left and right sides. Post-oculars number 2, and sub-oculars are absent. Temporal scales follow the arrangement 1+2, 2+2, or 2+3. This species is endemic to the state of Karnataka, India, where its distribution spans from Coorg to the Agumbe-Kodachadri range. It may be sympatric with A. malabarica in Coorg, but is largely separated from this species by rivers. Near the northern edge of its range, it is bordered by A. borealis, from which it is likely separated by the Sharavathi River basin. Ahaetulla farnsworthi inhabits mid-elevation tropical rainforests in the Central Western Ghats, at elevations between 500 and 850 meters above sea level.
