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http://dx.doi.org/10.11626/KJEB.2019.37.1.088

Report on the group mating of Asian keelback snake Hebius vibakari Boie 1826(Squamata; Colubridae) in South Korea  

Koo, Kyo Soung (Research Center of Ecomimetics, Chonnam National University)
Chang, Min-Ho (National Institute of Ecology)
Song, Jae-Young (Korea National Park Research Institute)
Publication Information
Korean Journal of Environmental Biology / v.37, no.1, 2019 , pp. 88-92 More about this Journal
Abstract
The objective of this study was to report the group mating of Asian Keelback snake, Hebius vibakari, in South Korea. On May 20, 2009, the group mating of H. vibakari was observed in the Maeng-gol do, Jindo-gun, Jeollanam-do, in the rocky area (107 m above sea level) on the ridge of the island. Six female and five male snakes made a form of mating behavior called "mating ball". Two couples showed "tail-wrestling" which is the copulation behavior in snake species. During the mating, the temperature and humidity were $25.7^{\circ}C$ and 59%, respectively. The result of this study was the first case report of the group mating in H. vibakari, a rare reptile.
Keywords
reptile; mating behavior; mating ball; copulation;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 3  (Citation Analysis)
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