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Palawan Sun Skink

    Leaves, twigs, and barks that have fallen to the ground make up leaf litter, and it's home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Most of the tiny animals found in the leaf litter are invertebrates. They are important food source for toads, skinks, and other small amphibians and reptiles that rely on the shelter and moisture provided by the leaf litter. One of the many creatures living in the leaf litter habitats of Palawan is the Palawan Sun Skink ( Eutropis sahulinghangganan ), a newly described species of skink endemic to Palawan. The name Eutropis sahulinghangganan derives from the Tagalog "sa huling" or "sa huli ng" (meaning in the last), and "hangganan" (meaning frontier). Palawan Sun Skink     The Palawan Sun Skink inhabits thick coastal forests, mangroves, as well as secondary forests and primary forests up in the mountains. I have seen this skink near the peak of Mount Beaufort at elevations of around 1000 masl, but the population of thi...

Banded Keel-throated Pitviper

Banded Keel-throated Pitviper Tropidolaemus subannulatus photo by Jojo De Peralta in Palawan



    The Banded Keel-throated Pitviper Tropidolaemus subannulatus (Gray, 1842) is said to be the most common pit viper in the Philippines. This venomous pit viper species is also native to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Like the Schultz’s Pit Viper, this species is primarily arboreal and an ambush-hunting venomous snake. It is active at night, but also seen moving around during the day, especially in the rainy season.

Banded Keel-throated Pitviper Tropidolaemus subannulatus photo by Jojo De Peralta in Palawan
Banded Keel-throated Pitviper


    The Banded Keel-throated Pitviper and the Shultz’s Pit Viper are both spectacular venomous pit viper that can be found in Palawan. They can be told apart from the shape of the head and the scales on the head. The scales of the head and chin of Banded Keel-throated Pitviper are strongly keeled, a closer look will show that the second upper labial is separated from the scale forming anterior border of facial pit. Shultz’s Pit Viper head and scales however looks smoother and the second upper labial is fused to the scale bordering the sensory pit.

Banded Keel-throated Pitviper Tropidolaemus subannulatus photo by Jojo De Peralta in Palawan
Banded Keel-throated Pitviper


     Although not copious in population compared to the Schultz's Pit Viper, this pit viper distribution is widespread in Palawan. It occurs in all mountain ranges and protected areas in Palawan like Cleopatra's Needle Reserve, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, and Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape.

Banded Keel-throated Pitviper Tropidolaemus subannulatus photo by Jojo De Peralta in Palawan
Banded Keel-throated Pitviper


     It is adaptable to some forms of habitat modification and is found in second-growth forests and thick patches of shrubs around rice plantations and other agricultural areas. It also seems that this pit viper is adaptable to higher elevation habitats like ultramafic forests and wet tropical mossy forest up in the mountains. Most pit vipers reportedly seen by mountaineers in the mossy forest of Palawan are this species and not the Schult'z Pit Viper.
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Palawan Spitting Cobra

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Schultz’s Pit Viper - A spectacular venomous snake endemic to Palawan

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