Acrochordus

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Automatic taxobox

The Acrochordidae, commonly known as wart snakes,<ref name="ITIS-F">Template:ITIS</ref> Java wart snakes,<ref name="ITIS-G">Template:ITIS</ref> file snakes, elephant trunk snakes, or dogface snakes are a monogeneric family of snakes.<ref name="ITIS-F"/> The sole genus Acrochordus are basal aquatic snakes found in Australia and tropical Asia, with three species recognized.<ref name="ITIS-G"/>

Description

All are entirely aquatic, lacking the broad belly-scales found in most other snakes and possessing dorsally located eyes. Their most notable feature is their skin and scales. The skin is loose and baggy, giving the impression of being several sizes too large for the snake, and the scales, rather than overlapping, possess tiny pyramidal projections that led to their common names. Adults grow to between Template:Convert in length.

This type of snake are ambush predators, lurking at the bottom of rivers, streams and estuaries, and waiting for fish to approach, which they grip with their coils. The rough scales allow them to hold the fish despite the mucus coating.

Geographic range

Found from western India and Sri Lanka through tropical Southeast Asia to the Philippines, south through the Indonesian island group to Timor, east through New Guinea to the northern coast of Australia to Mussau Island, the Bismarck Archipelago and Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.<ref name="McD99"/>

Relation to humans

These animals are rapidly becoming rare as their hides are used for handbags and leather (stripped of scales, of course). Numerous attempts have been made by both zoos and private reptile collectors to keep them, but in all cases, they have been reluctant to feed and prone to skin infections.

Species

Common name	Scientific name	IUCN Red List Status	Distribution
Arafura file snake<ref name="EMBL-AA">Template:EMBL species</ref>	Acrochordus arafurae McDowell, 1979	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>	New Guinea and northern Australia.
Little wart snake<ref name="FC">Western Australian Reptile Species at Frank O'Connor's Birding Western Australia. Accessed 20 September 2007</ref>	Acrochordus granulatus (Schneider, 1799)	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>	Peninsular India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Andaman Islands, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and coastal northern Australia.
Elephant trunk snake<ref name="EMBL-AJ">Template:EMBL species</ref>	Acrochordus javanicus Hornstedt, 1787	Template:IUCN status<ref>Template:Cite iucn</ref>	Southeast Asia from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, south through Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra, Java and Borneo).