Snakes of Sri Lanka: A Coloured Atlas by Anslem De Silva with Illustrations by Jayantha Jinasena

Around 500 million years ago, the island of Sri Lanka (along with India) was a part of Gondwanaland. However, during the separation of this giant continent into the present day continents of America, Africa, Australia and the Indian Peninsula (of which Sri Lanka is a small part), the biota of Gondwanaland was separated too. Although speciation occurred over millions of years of isolation within each continent, they retained some genetic components. Although the diverse reptile fauna of Sri Lanka was considered to show affinities to most Indian counterparts (Deraniyagala 1945, 1951, 1955), the wet zone of Sri Lanka is considered to be the 'least influenced by recent invasion from southern India' (Crusze & Nugaliyadde, 1977). In fact recent molecular studies of amphibians and uropeltid snakes show that the fauna of Sri Lanka is distinct from that of the Indian mainland.