"Bitia" redirects here. For the former Punic and Roman town on Sardinia, see
Bithia, Italy. For town of ancient Epirus, see
Bitia (Epirus).
The keel-bellied water snake (Bitia hydroides) is a marine homalopsine snake. It belongs to the monotypic genus Bitia.[2]
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Bitia hydroides is noted for its unusual dentition. In all other snakes, any enlarged teeth are located on the dentary or maxilla, with the inner, palatine teeth of the upper jaw being smaller. In Bitia hydroides, the palatine teeth are greatly enlarged. Not enough is known about this animal's feeding behavior or ecology to attempt to infer a function of this peculiar arrangement.
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/1447028
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- Manthey, U. & Grossmann, W. 1997. "Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens". Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 512 pp.
- Murphy, John C. 2007. Homalopsid Snakes: Evolution in the Mud. Krieger Publishing, Malabar, Florida, 249 pp.
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- Voris, Harold K., Michael E. Alfaro, Daryl R. Karns, G. Lucas Starnes, Emma Thompson and John C. Murphy 2002. Phylogenetic relationships of the Oriental-Australian rear-fanged water snakes (Colubridae: Homalopsinae) based on Mitochondrial DNA sequences. Copeia 2002 (4): 906–915
- Voris, Harold K., Bruce C. Jayne, Todd J. Ward. "Morphology, Reproduction, and Diet of the Marine Homalopsine Snake Bitia hydroides in Peninsular Malaysia.". Copeia, Vol. 1995, No. 4 (Dec. 21, 1995), pp. 800–808.