Uropeltis petersi

Uropeltis petersi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Uropeltidae
Genus: Uropeltis
Species: U. petersi
Binomial name
Uropeltis petersi
(Beddome, 1878)
Synonyms

Uropeltis petersi, commonly known as the shieldtail earth snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Uropeltidae. It is endemic to India.

Geographic range

It is found in southern India in the Anaimalai Hills (4,000-5,000 feet).

Type locality: "Anamallays, 4000 feet".

Etymology

The specific name, petersi, is in honor of Wilhelm Peters (1815–1883), a German herpetologist.

Description

Dorsum uniformly brown, or brown with yellowish dots. Ventrum with irregular yellowish spots.

Total length 19 cm (7 1⁄2 in).

Smooth dorsal scales arranged in 17 rows at midbody, in 19 rows behind the head. Ventrals 151-180; subcaudals 6-11.

Snout obtusely pointed. Rostral slightly less than ¼ the length of the shielded part of the head. Portion of the rostral visible from above shorter than its distance from the frontal. Nasals in contact with each other behind the rostral. Frontal longer than broad. Eye small, its diameter less than ½ the length of the ocular shield. Diameter of body 25 to 33 times in the total length. Ventrals about two times as large as the contiguous scales. Tail round or slightly laterally compressed, the terminal dorsal scales distinctly pluricarinate. Terminal scute with a transverse ridge, but without points.[3]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Srinivasulu, B.; Srinivasulu, C.; Giri, V.; Kulkarni, N.U. & Thakur, S. (2013). "Uropeltis petersi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  2. ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ↑ Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families...Uropeltidæ... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. pp. 148-149, Plate VI, figures 1, 1a, 1b, 1c.

Further reading

  • Beddome, R.H. 1878. Descriptions of new Uropeltidae from Southern India, with Remarks on some previously-described Species. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1878 (1): 154-155.
  • Beddome, R.H. 1886. An Account of the Earth-Snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 17: 3-33.
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