Uropeltis
| Uropeltis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ceylon earth snake, U. ceylanica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Uropeltidae |
| Genus: | Uropeltis Cuvier, 1829 |
| Synonyms | |
| |
- Common names: shieldtails.
Uropeltis is a genus of nonvenomous shield tail snakes endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka. Currently, 23 species are recognized.[2]
Geographic range
Uropeltis species are found in southern India and Sri Lanka.[1]
Description
Eye in the ocular shield. No supraoculars. No temporals. No mental groove. Tail conical or obliquely truncated, terminating in a small scute, the end of which is square, or bicuspid with the points side by side.[3]
Species
| Species[2][4] | Taxon author[2][4] | Common name | Geographic range[1][4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| U. arcticeps | (Günther, 1875) | Tinevelly shieldtail | Tirunelveli Hills |
| U. beddomii | (Günther, 1862) | Beddome's shieldtail | Anaimalai Hills |
| U. bicatenata | (Günther, 1875) | two-chained shieldtail | Pune Hills |
| U. broughami | (Beddome, 1878) | Brougham's shieldtail | Palni Hills and Sirumalai Hills |
| U. ceylanicaT | Cuvier, 1829 | Cuvier's shieldtail | Western Ghats south of Goa. |
| U. dindigalensis | (Beddome, 1877) | Dindigul shieldtail | Sirumalai Hills |
| U. ellioti | (Gray, 1858) | Elliot's shieldtail | Hills of peninsular India |
| U. liura | (Günther, 1875) | Günther's shieldtail | Southern Western Ghats |
| U. macrolepis | (Peters, 1862) | Bombay shieldtail | Northern Western Ghats |
| U. macrorhyncha | (Beddome, 1877) | Ponachi shieldtail | Anaimalai Hills |
| U. maculata | (Beddome, 1878) | spotted shieldtail | Anaimalai Hills |
| U. madurensis | (Beddome, 1878) | Madura earth snake | Meghamalai |
| U. melanogaster | (Gray, 1858) | Gray's shieldtail | Sri Lanka |
| U. myhendrae | (Beddome, 1886) | barred shieldtail | Agasthyamalai Hills |
| U. nitida | (Beddome, 1878) | Cochin shieldtail | Anaimalai Hills and Nelliyampathi. |
| U. ocellata | (Beddome, 1863) | Nilgiri shieldtail | Western Ghats south of Nilgiris . |
| U. petersi | (Beddome, 1878) | Peters' shieldtail | Anaimalai Hills |
| U. phillipsi | (Nicholls, 1929) | Phillips' shieldtail | Sri Lanka |
| U. phipsonii | (Mason, 1888) | Phipson's shieldtail | Northern Western Ghats |
| U. pulneyensis | (Beddome, 1863) | Palni shieldtail | Southern Western Ghats |
| U. rubrolineata | (Günther, 1875) | red-lined shieldtail | Southern Western Ghats. |
| U. rubromaculata | (Beddome, 1867) | red-spotted shieldtail | Anaimalai Hills. |
| U. ruhunae | Deraniyagala, 1954 | Sri Lanka | |
| U. shorttii | (Beddome, 1863) | Shevaroy Hills earth snake | Yercaud |
| U. smithi | Gans, 1966 | Smith's shieldtail, violet shieldtail | Anaimalai Hills |
| U. woodmasoni | (W. Theobald, 1876) | Palni shieldtail, black-bellied shieldtail | Palni Hills . |
* Not including the nominate subspecies.
T Type species.[1]
See also
- List of uropeltid species and subspecies
- Uropeltidae by common name
- Uropeltidae by taxonomic synonyms
References
- 1 2 3 4 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).
- 1 2 3 "Uropeltis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
- ↑ Boulenger GA. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Uropeltidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Genus Silybura, p. 144).
- 1 2 3 "Uropeltis ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- Boulenger GA. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Genus Silybura, p. 257, Figure 81).
- Smith MA. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia, Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Genus Uropeltis, p. 73).
- Wall F. 1921. Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo, Ceylon [Sri Lanka]: Colombo Museum. (H.R. Cottle, Government Printer). xxii + 581 pp. (Genus Uropeltis, pp. 23–25, Figures 7-9).
External links
- Captain A. 2003. Checklist of Indian Snakes with English Common Names. PDF at the University of Texas at Austin. Accessed 2 September 2007.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uropeltis. |
- Uropeltis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 1 September 2007.
- Genus Uropeltis at Systema Naturae 2000. Accessed 2 September 2007.
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