Common names: amami takachiho snake.

Achalinus werneri is a colubrid snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 endemic to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Conservation status

This species is classified as vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List for the following criteria: B1+2c (v2.3, 1994). This means that although the species is not Critically Endangered or Endangered, it is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future. This is because its range is estimated to be less than 20,000 km², or its area of occupancy is estimated to be less than 2,000 km², and estimates indicate its range is severely fragmented, or known to exist at no more than ten locations, and that a continuing decline has been inferred, observed or projected in the area, extent and/or quality of its habitat. Year assessed: 1996.