Atretium
genus of reptiles
Atretium schistosum, also known commonly as the split keelback and the olive keelback wart snake, is a species of snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species, which is the sole species in the genus Atretium, is native to South Asia.
It is a common and harmless watersnake.
Geographic range
A. schistosum is found in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
In India it occurs in peninsular India south of latitude 15 degrees north and along the east coast to Uttarakhand. It is reported to be very common around Bangalore, North Arcot district (Tamil Nadu) and Kakinada area in Andhra Pradesh. Occurs up to 1000 m (3280 ft) above sea level. Absent from most of North India.
Description
A. schistosum is a small, robust snake with thin head, short snout and slit nostrils placed rather high. The snake is olive-green and yellow to orange below.
“Atretium” enters the record as genus of reptiles. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Atretium, genus and reptiles can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Atretium” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Atretium, genus and reptiles provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2014197. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1000.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Atretium” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.