Dr. Chun-Kai Yang accompanied Japanese scholar Yanagi Hiroaki on a field survey and discussed cooperation opportunities.

Date: 2022.11.22~28

From November 22 to 28, 2022, Japanese scholar Yanagi Hiroaki visited Taiwan for a week-long visit to explore the research area and discuss research collaborations with the Center. A second-year master's student in the Animal Behavior Laboratory, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan, Hiroaki will become a doctoral candidate next year and begin a three-month collaborative study of Taiwanese snakes in May. The study will explore differences in diet, morphology, and habitat use among Taiwanese snake species of the genus Ptyas.

The Taiwan green snake (Ptyas major) and the Ryukyu green snake (Ptyas semicarinata) found in Ryukyu, Japan, have similar diets and morphologies. However, the green snake differs significantly from other Ptyas snakes, such as the Oriental rat snake (Ptyas mucosa) and the Big-eyed ratsnake (Ptyas dhumnades). The study aims to further explore the potential causes of these divergences in diet and morphology among snake species within the same genus. In addition to diet and morphology, Ptyas snakes also differ in habitat selection. Species such as the Oriental rat snake and the Indo-Chinese rat snake often appear in reclaimed land, differing from the two forest-dwelling species: the green snake and the Big-eyed ratsnake. Faced with Taiwan's narrow land and dense population, snakes often need to survive in a mosaic landscape. However, there are few data about habitat diversity and whether specific habitat types contribute to the survival of Ptyas snake. We hope that future research will further understand the survival strategies of Taiwanese snakes in different environments and the functions they can provide. We also hope to combine the research results with Japanese snake research and submit them to international journals. At the same time, we can provide suggestions for land utilization in Taiwan to improve the harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife.

Yanagi Hiroaki presented a souvenir to Dr. Chun-Kai Yang.

Individual data of green snakes were collected after field collection.