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Opinions and declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

This appears to be an accident. The python could have coiled itself on the metal box of the door closer (indicated by white arrow in Fig. 1) and escaped the notice of the person using the toilet cubicle. It had probably tried to slip over the side of the door facing the cubicle as the door was being shut, thereby catching it at the neck and crushing that section of the body. However, it is also possible that it was not an accident. The user of the toilet cubicle could have noticed the snake, and had deliberately and forcibly shut the door to kill it. The reticulated python is a common snake in Singapore. It frequents most terrestrial habitats, from forest to mangroves, and is often found near human habitation (Baker & Lim, 2012: 91).

The black marsh terrapin is believed to be introduced to Singapore. It is frequently released as a religious merit-making offering, and the species was not recorded in Singapore before the 1980s (Ng & Lim, 2010)

The black marsh terrapin is one of several species of turtles that are often released into the wild as religious merit-making offerings, and may not be native to Singapore (Baker & Lim, 2012: 124). There appears to be no previous published record of this species from Pulau Ubin (see: Subaraj, 2000)