Copper-headed trinket snake, Coelognathus radiatus (Boie, 1827) (Serpentes: Colubridae) behavior: Two cases of death-feigning (Thanatosis) in Dibrugarh city, Assam (India) with a review of Death-feigning in Indian snakes

Death-feigning (thanatosis) behaviour displayed by 13 species of Indian snakes under 10 genera is reviewed. The 13 Indian snake species with 37 documented cases of display of this behavior under review include Coelognathus radiatus (13 cases), Lycodon aulicus (6 cases), Fowlea piscator (3 cases) Naja naja. (2 cases), Lycodon jara (2 cases), Pseudoxenodon macrops (2 cases), Python bivittatus (2cases), and Daboia russelii (2 cases). Other species with one case in each include Lycodon flavicollis, Lycodon striatus, Eryx conicus, Oligodon woodmasoni and Platyceps plinii. All the thirteen known cases of death-feigning behavior in Copper-headed Trinket Snake Coelognathus radiatus (Boie 1827) were documented from 3 countries viz. Thailand (8 cases), Malaysia (2 cases) and Nepal (3cases). In the present communication two more cases of death-feigning in C.radiatus are reported from Dibrugarh, City, Assam (India). Photographic and video graphic documentation of the behavioral pattern was done in both the individuals rescued from Tulsigaon and Khaniagaon of the City. These two cases of in C.radiatus with a frequency of occurrence of 10. 5 percent (n=21) are the 14th and 15th of this kind and recorded for the first time from Indian limits.