{{Short description|Genus of snakes}} {{More footnotes needed|date=July 2015}} {{speciesbox | image = Gfp-red-mountain-racer.jpg | image_caption = Red mountain rat snake <br />(''Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi'') | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Tshewang, S. |author2=Khan, M. |author3=Ghosh, A. |author4=Limbu, K.P. |author5=Hasan, M.K. |year=2022 |amends=2021 |title=''Oreocryptophis porphyraceus'' |volume=2022 |article-number=e.T190613A219112947 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T190613A219112947.en |access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref> | genus = Oreocryptophis | parent_authority = Utiger, [[Beat Schätti|Schätti]] and Helfenberger, 2005 | species = porphyraceus | authority = ([[Theodore Edward Cantor|Cantor]], 1839) | synonyms = *''Elaphe porphyracea'' *''Oreophis porphyraceus'' *''Simotes vaillanti'' *''Liopeltis kawkamii'' }}
'''''Oreocryptophis porphyraceus''''' is a [[rat snake]] species, commonly called the '''black-banded trinket snake''', '''red bamboo snake''',<ref name=RDB/> found in mid to upper-level elevations of forested hills in southeastern Asia, ranging from evergreen tropical to dry seasonal forests depending on the subspecies and locality. It is the only member of the genus '''''Oreocryptophis''''',<ref>{{NRDB genus |genus=Oreocryptophis |date=22 June |year=2020}}</ref> but it was formerly placed in ''[[Elaphe]]''.<ref name=RDB/>
==Description== The head is small, sharp and squarish, while the color pattern includes red or orange colors, along with black bands or stripes. A terrestrial species, it has a preference for cool climates that restricts its habitat to hills and mountain plateaus. It is known to be crepuscular, active during the late evenings till night and dawn till late mornings. In captivity, it is one of the most sought-after rat snake species.
==Distribution== [[India]] (Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh (Miao, Namdapha - Changlang district, Itanagar - Papum Pare district), [[Myanmar]], [[Bhutan]], [[Thailand]], [[Laos]], [[Cambodia]], [[Vietnam]], [[Nepal]], South [[China]] ([[Tibet]], Sichuan, Yunnan, Hong Kong, Hainan, northward to Henan and Gansu; south to Wei He river), [[Taiwan]], West [[Malaysia]] (Cameron Highlands, Pahang), [[Indonesia]] (Sumatra). The [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] given is "India: Assam, Mishmi [Mishmee] Hills." It is also reported from Lowachhara National Park of North-eastern [[Bangladesh]]<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344358377 |via=[[ResearchGate]]|doi=10.15560/16.5.1239 |title=Amphibians and reptiles from Lawachara National Park in Bangladesh |year=2020 |last1=Hakim |first1=Jonathan |last2=Trageser |first2=Scott J. |last3=Ghose |first3=Animesh |last4=Rashid |first4=Sheikh Muhammad Abdur |last5=Rahman |first5=Shahriar Caesar |journal=Check List |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=1239–1268 |s2cid=225020239 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Habitat== These rat snakes thrive under cool and very humid conditions. On many occasions they are found at altitudes exceeding 800 meters in evergreen moist rainforest or monsoon forests, depending on the subspecies and locality. They spend most of the time hiding in leaf litter, under moss carpets, or under rocks and logs.
==Diet== The diet consists primarily of rodents and other small mammals in the wild. Frogs are a possibility. In captivity, mice are accepted readily.
==Subspecies== {| class="wikitable sortable" !Subspecies !Geographic range |- |''O. p. porphyraceus'' |Bhutan; India; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; China, Thailand, Vietnam |- |''O. p. coxi'' |NW Thailand |- |''O. p. kawakamii'' |Taiwan |- |''O. p. laticinctus'' |Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra |- |''O. p. vaillanti'' |China, Vietnam |- |''O. p. pulchra'' |China |- |}
==References== <references>
<ref name=RDB>{{NRDB species |genus=Oreocryptophis |species=porphyraceus |accessdate=22 June 2020}}</ref>
</references> {{refbegin}} * Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. * Cantor, T. E. 1839 Spicilegium serpentium indicorum [parts 1 and 2]. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 7: 31-34, 49-55. * Das, I. 1999 Biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. In: Ota, H. (ed) Tropical Island herpetofauna.., Elsevier, pp. 43–77 * Gray, J. E. 1853 Descriptions of some undescribed species of reptiles collected by Dr. Joseph Hooker in the Khassia Mountains, East Bengal, and Sikkim Himalaya. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 12: 386 - 392 * Grossmann, Wolfgang and Klaus Dieter Schulz. 2000 ''Elaphe porphyracea laticincta'' Schulz & Helfenberger. Sauria 22 (2):2 * Gumprecht, A. 2003 Anmerkungen zu den Chinesischen Kletternattern der Gattung ''Elaphe'' (sensu lato) Fitzinger 1833. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (6): 37-41 * Lenk, P.; Joger, U. & Wink, M. 2001 Phylogenetic relationships among European ratsnakes of the genus ''Elaphe'' Fitzinger based on mitochondrial DNA sequence comparisons. Amphibia-Reptilia 22 (3): 329-339 * Schulz, Klaus-Dieter 1996 A monograph of the colubrid snakes of the genus ''Elaphe'' Fitzinger. Koeltz Scientific Books, 439 pp. * Schulz, Klaus-Dieter (Ed.) 2013 Old World Ratsnakes. A Collection of Papers. Bushmaster Publishing, 432 pp. * Utiger, Urs, Notker Helfenberger, Beat Schätti, Catherine Schmidt, Markus Ruf and Vincent Ziswiler 2002 Molecular systematics and phylogeny of Old World and New World ratsnakes, ''Elaphe'' Auct., and related genera (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae). Russ. J. Herpetol. 9 (2): 105-124. {{refend}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Oreocryptophis porphyraceus}} * [http://www.herpFocus.com?HFID=HF20080713-002 Image of Oreocryptophis porphyraceus laticincta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711164037/http://www.herpfocus.com/?HFID=HF20080713-002 |date=2011-07-11 }} * [http://www.herpFocus.com?HFID=HF20070330-001 Image of Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711164127/http://www.herpfocus.com/?HFID=HF20070330-001 |date=2011-07-11 }} * [http://www.herpFocus.com?HFID=HF20070606-008 Image of Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi - hatching] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711164216/http://www.herpfocus.com/?HFID=HF20070606-008 |date=2011-07-11 }} * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101000000/http://www.snakesoftaiwan.com/Oreocryptophis%20porphyracea/species_oreocryptophis_porphyracea.htm |date=1 Jan 2020 |title=''Oreocryptophis porphyraceus kawakamii'' |work=Snakes of Taiwan }}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q14564443|from2=Q1982486}}
[[Category:Colubridae]] [[Category:Monotypic snake genera]] [[Category:Snakes of Asia]] [[Category:Reptiles of Bhutan]] [[Category:Snakes of China]] [[Category:Reptiles of Cambodia]] [[Category:Snakes of India]] [[Category:Snakes of Indonesia]] [[Category:Reptiles of Laos]] [[Category:Snakes of Malaysia]] [[Category:Snakes of Myanmar]] [[Category:Reptiles of Nepal]] [[Category:Snakes of Singapore]] [[Category:Reptiles of Taiwan]] [[Category:Snakes of Thailand]] [[Category:Snakes of Vietnam]] [[Category:Reptiles described in 1839]] [[Category:Taxa named by Beat Schätti]]