Eryx elegans

Eryx elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Subfamily: Erycinae
Genus: Eryx
Species: E. elegans
Binomial name
Eryx elegans
(Gray, 1849)
Synonyms
  • Cusoria elegans
    Gray, 1849
  • Cursoria elegans
    Günther, 1864
  • Eryx elegans
    Blanford, 1876
  • Eryx elegans
    Boulenger, 1893
  • Eryx jaculus czarewskii Nikolski, 1916
  • Eryx elegans
    — Stimson, 1969[1]
Common names: Central Asian sand boa, elegant sand boa.

Eryx elegans is a nonvenomous boa species endemic to western Central Asia. No subspecies are currently recognized.[2]

Description

Not well known in the wild or in captivity, this is a small species, reaching about 15 inches (38 cm) in total length (including tail). The dorsal scales are small and slightly keeled. Coloration is very drab, consisting of a light olive-brown background, with small, irregular, darker brown blotches with black edges running along the back. There are also brown blotches on the ventral surface.

Geographic range

E. elegans is found in southern Turkmenistan, northern Iran (the Kopet Dag mountains in the north-east and the Azerbaijan region in the north-west), and Afghanistan. The type locality given is "Afghanistan."[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. "Eryx elegans". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 8 July 2008.

Further reading

External links

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