Oligodon
Oligodon is genus of colubrid snakes that was first described by Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. This genus is widespread throughout central and tropical Asia. The snakes of this genus are commonly known as kukri snakes.
Description
The species in the genus Oligodon are egg eaters and are usually under 90 cm in total length. Different species display widely variable patterns and colorations. They subsist mostly by scavenging the eggs of birds and reptiles. Besides eggs, species of this genus also feeds on lizards, frogs, and small rodents.Oligodon is a rear-fanged snake genus. All member species have a set of enlarged teeth placed in the back of the upper jaws, as well as functional Duvernoy's glands. They are not dangerous to humans, though. Bites by some species have been reported to bleed excessively, suggesting presence of anticoagulants in the Duvernoy's gland secretions. Species of Oligodon are mostly nocturnal, and live on the floor of mature forests.
The common name of the genus comes from the kukri, a distinctively shaped Nepalese knife, which is similar in shape to the broad, flattened, curved hind teeth of Oligodon species. These teeth are specially adapted for their main diet of eggs; the teeth cut open eggs as they are being swallowed by the snake, allowing for easier digestion.
At least three species will slice open the abdomens of frogs and toads and devour their internal organs, before finally swallowing the prey whole. That toads can be swallowed whole suggests that at least some species are immune to toad bufotoxin.
Species
There are 91 recognized species in the genus Oligodon according to the Reptile Database as of October 2025.The source column gives direct links to the sources used:
- IUCN description of species at International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Red List categories are:
- RDB description of species at Reptile Database.
| Image | Common name | Species | Geographic range | Status | Source |
| Western kukri snake, Malabar brown kukri snake | O. affinis Günther, 1862 | India | |||
| Light-barred kukri snake | O. albocinctus | Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, China | |||
| Northern short-headed snake | O. ancorus | Philippines | |||
| Annam kukri snake | O. annamensis Leviton, 1953 | Vietnam | |||
| Spotted kukri snake, ringed kukri snake | O. annulifer | Brunei, Malaysia | |||
| Russet kukri snake, common kukri snake, banded kukri | O. arnensis | Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal | |||
| Barron's kukri snake | O. barroni | Thailand, Southern Vietnam, Cambodia, South Laos | |||
| Javanese mountain kukri snake, Boie's kukri snake | O. bitorquatus F. Boie, 1827 | Indonesia | |||
| Double-striped kukri snake | O. bivirgatus T. Qian, S. Qi, J. Shi, Y. Lu, R.W. Jenkins, Y. Mo & P. Li, 2021 | China | |||
| Boo-Liat's kukri snake | O. booliati Leong & Grismer, 2004 | Malaysia | |||
| Short-tailed kukri snake, shorthead kukri snake | O. brevicauda Günther, 1862 | India | |||
| Templeton's kukri snake | O. calamarius | Sri Lanka | |||
| Assam kukri snake | O. catenatus | India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, South China | |||
| Chinese kukri snake | O. chinensis | southern China, northern Vietnam | |||
| Churah Valley kukri snake | O. churahensis Mirza, Bhardwaj & Patel, 2021 | India | |||
| Cicada-eating kukri snake | O. cicadophagus Pauwels, Donbundit, Sumontha & Meesook, 2025 | Thailand | |||
| Black cross-barred kukri snake, ashy kukri snake, golden kukri snake, Günther's kukri snake | O. cinereus | India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, China | |||
| O. condaoensis S.N. Nguyen, V.D.H. Nguyen, S.H. Le & R. Murphy, 2016 | S Vietnam | ||||
| Pegu kukri snake | O. cruentatus | Myanmar | |||
| O. culaochamensis S.N. Nguyen et al., 2017 | Vietnam | ||||
| North-east Indian kukri snake, Cantor's kukri snake | O. cyclurus | India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Nepal, Bangladesh | |||
| O. deuvei David, G. Vogel & van Rooijen, 2008 | Cambodia, southern Vietnam, Laos, North East Thailand | ||||
| Gray's kukri snake, Bengalese kukri snake | O. dorsalis | India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand | |||
| Eberhardt's kukri snake | O. eberhardti Pellegrin, 1910 | Vietnam, China, possibly Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar | |||
| Nagarkot kukri snake | O. erythrogaster Boulenger, 1907 | Central and East Nepal, India | |||
| Red-striped kukri snake, Namsang kukri snake | O. erythrorhachis Wall, 1910 | India | |||
| Jewelled kukri snake, Everett's kukri snake | O. everetti Boulenger, 1893 | Indonesia, Malaysia | |||
| Small-banded kukri snake, fasciolated kukri snake | O. fasciolatus | Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam | |||
| Forbes' kukri snake | O. forbesi | Indonesia | |||
| Taiwan kukri snake, Formosa kukri snake | O. formosanus | Vietnam, Taiwan, South Japan, South China | |||
| Hampton's kukri snake | O. hamptoni Boulenger, 1918 | Myanmar | |||
| Hua Hin Kukri Snake | O. huahin Pauwels, Larsen, Suthanthangjai, David & Sumontha, 2017 | Thailand | |||
| Inornate kukri snake, unicolored kukri snake | O. inornatus | Cambodia, North and East Thailand | |||
| Jintakune's kukri snake | O. jintakunei Pauwels, Wallach, David, Chanhome, 2002 | South Thailand | |||
| Grey kukri snake, Joynson's kukri snake | O. joynsoni | northern Thailand, possibly Laos, Myanmar, China | |||
| Walnut kukri snake | O. juglandifer | India, West Bhutan | |||
| O. kampucheaensis Neang, Grismer & Daltry, 2012 | Cambodia | ||||
| coral red kukri snake | O. kheriensis Acharji & Ray, 1936 | India, Southwest Nepal | |||
| Lacroix kukri snake | O. lacroixi Angel & Bourret, 1933 | China, Vietnam | |||
| Medog kukri snake | O. lipipengi Jiang, Wang, Li, Ding, Ding & Che, 2020 | China | |||
| O. lungshenensis Zheng & Huang, 1978 | China | ||||
| Angel's kukri snake | O. macrurus | Vietnam | |||
| Barred short-headed snake, spotted kukri snake | O. maculatus | Philippines | |||
| Arakan kukri snake, McDougall's kukri snake | O. mcdougalli Wall, 1905 | Myanmar | |||
| Bluebelly kukri snake | O. melaneus Wall, 1909 | India | |||
| Abor Hills kukri snake | O. melanozonatus Wall, 1922 | India, China | |||
| Sulu short-headed snake, Meyerink's kukri snake | O. meyerinkii | Philippine Islands, possibly Malaysia | |||
| Spotted-bellied short-headed snake, Luzon kukri snake | O. modestus Günther, 1864 | Philippines | |||
| Morice's kukri snake | O. moricei David, G. Vogel & van Rooijen, 2008 | Southern Vietnam | |||
| Cambodian kukri snake, Mouhot's kukri snake | O. mouhoti | Cambodia, East Thailand | |||
| Nagao kukri snake | O. nagao David, T.Q. Nguyen, T. Nguyen, Jiang, T. Chen, Teynié & Ziegler, 2012 | Northern Vietnam, Southwest China, Laos | |||
| Nikhil's kukri snake | O. nikhili Whitaker & Dattatri, 1982 | India | |||
| Palawan kukri snake, Palawan short-headed snake | O. notospilus Günther, 1873 | Philippine Islands | |||
| Eyed kukri snake, ocellated kukri snake | O. ocellatus | Cambodia, Lao, southern Vietnam | |||
| Eight-lined kukri snake, eight-striped kukri snake, Grace's kukri snake | O. octolineatus | Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore | |||
| Ornate kukri snake | O. ornatus Van Denburgh, 1909 | China, Taiwan, | |||
| Perkin's short-headed snake | O. perkinsi | Philippines | |||
| Petronella's kukri snake | O. petronellae Roux, 1917 | Indonesia | |||
| Pha-Ngan kukri snake | O. phangan Pauwels, Thongyai, Chantong & Sumontha, 2021 | Thailand | |||
| O. planiceps | Myanmar | ||||
| Pulau Weh kukri snake | O. praefrontalis F. Werner, 1913 | Indonesia | |||
| O. promsombuti Pauwels, Thongyai, Chantong, & Sumontha, 2021 | Thailand | ||||
| Bleeker's Kukri Snake | O. propinquus Jan, 1862 | Indonesia | |||
| False striped kukri snake | O. pseudotaeniatus David, G. Vogel & van Rooijen, 2008 | Thailand | |||
| O. pulcherrimus F. Werner, 1909 | Indonesia | ||||
| Purple kukri snake, brown kukri snake | O. purpurascens | Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand | |||
| Long-snouted kukri snake | O. rostralis H.N. Nguyen, Tran, L.H. Nguyen, Neang, Yushchenko & Poyarkov, 2020 | Vietnam | |||
| Russell's kukri snake | O. russelius | India, Nepal | |||
| Saint Girons' kukri snake | O. saintgironsi David, G. Vogel & Pauwels, 2008 | Vietnam, Cambodia | |||
| Sai Yok Kukri Snake | O. saiyok Sumontha, Kunya, Dangsri & Pauwels, 2017 | Thailand | - | ||
| Half-keeled kukri snake, barred kukri snake, banded kukri snake | O. signatus | Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore | |||
| Cave kukri snake | O. speleoserpens Pawangkhanant, Poyarkov, Ward-Smith, Grassby-Lewis, Sumontha, Kliukin, Idiiatullina, Trofimets, Suwannapoom & Lee, 2024 | Thailand | |||
| Splendid kukri snake | O. splendidus | Myanmar | |||
| Duméril's kukri snake | O. sublineatus A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 | Sri Lanka | |||
| Striped kukri snake | O. taeniatus | Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, possibly China | |||
| Streaked Kukri snake, Loos snake | O. taeniolatus | Afghanistan, India, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan | |||
| Teynié's kukri snake | O. teyniei David, Hauser & G. Vogel, 2022 | Laos | |||
| Mandalay kukri snake, Theobald's kukri snake | O. theobaldi | Bangladesh, Myanmar | |||
| Tillack's kukri snake | O. tillacki Bandara, Ganesh, Kanishka, Danushka, Sharma, P. Campbell, Ineich, G. Vogel & Amarasinghe, 2022 | India | |||
| O. tolaki Amarasinghe, Henkanaththegedara, Campbell, Riyanto, Hallermann & G. Vogel, 2021 | Indonesia | ||||
| O. torquatus | Myanmar | ||||
| Travancore kukri snake | O. travancoricus Beddome, 1877 | India | |||
| Three-lined kukri snake | O. trilineatus | Indonesia | |||
| Langbian kukri snake | O. tuani S.N. Nguyen, Le, Vo & R. Murphy, 2022 | Vietnam | |||
| O. unicolor | Indonesia | ||||
| Jerdon's kukri snake | O. venustus | India | |||
| Dark-spined kukri snake, vertebral kukri snake | O. vertebralis | Indonesia, Malaysia | |||
| Bleeker's kukri snake | O. waandersi | Indonesia | |||
| Wagner's kukri snake | O. wagneri David & G. Vogel, 2012 | Indonesia | |||
| yellow-striped kukri snake | O. woodmasoni | India |