Uropeltis
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| Uropeltis | |
|---|---|
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| 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 | |
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- 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]
Contents |
[edit] Geographic range
Found in southern India and Sri Lanka.[1]
[edit] 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]
[edit] Species
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This section may require copy-editing. |
| Species[2] | Taxon author[2] | Common name | Geographic range[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| U. arcticeps | (Günther, 1875) | Tinevelly shieldtail | southern India |
| U. beddomii | (Günther, 1862) | Beddome's shieldtail | southern India |
| U. broughami | (Beddome, 1878) | Sirumalai shieldtail | southern India (Palni and Sirumalai Hills, Madura district; Nilgiris) |
| U. ceylanicaT | Cuvier, 1829 | Cuvier's shieldtail | southern India in the Western Ghats (Kerala) from Castle Rock to Travancore (Anaimalai Hills), in the Eastern Ghats in the Shevaroy Hills, and in the southern Ghats from Kunjithanni (Idikki District) to Trivandrum. |
| U. dindigalensis | (Beddome, 1877) | Dindigul shieldtail | southern India |
| U. ellioti | (Gray, 1858) | Elliot's shieldtail | southern India |
| U. liura | (Günther, 1875) | Günther's shieldtail | southern India |
| U. macrolepis | (Peters, 1862) | Bombay shieldtail | southern India |
| U. macrorhyncha | (Beddome, 1877) | Ponachi shieldtail | southern India in the Western Ghats: Anaimalai Hills, Madura District. |
| U. maculata | (Beddome, 1878) | spotted shieldtail | southern India |
| U. melanogaster | (Gray, 1858) | Gray's shieldtail | Sri Lanka |
| U. myhendrae | (Beddome, 1886) | barred shieldtail | southern India |
| U. nitida | (Beddome, 1878) | Cochin shieldtail | southern India in the Western Ghats on the Cochin side of the Anaimalai Hills. |
| U. ocellata | (Beddome, 1863) | Nilgiri shieldtail | southern India in the Western Ghats: south of the Goa Gap, Anaimalai, Cardomom (southern Kerala), Munnar Hills, Nilgiri Hills and Trivandrum. |
| U. petersi | (Beddome, 1878) | Peters' shieldtail | southern India |
| U. phillipsi | (Nicholls, 1929) | Phillips' shieldtail | Sri Lanka |
| U. phipsonii | (Mason, 1888) | Phipson's shieldtail | India |
| U. pulneyensis | (Beddome, 1863) | Palni shieldtail | India |
| U. rubrolineata | (Günther, 1875) | red-lined shieldtail | southern India in the Western Ghats: south of the Palghat to Bhimshankar and in the Anaimalai and Travancore Hills. |
| U. rubromaculata | (Beddome, 1867) | red-spotted shieldtail | southern India in the Western Ghats: Anaimalai Hills and Nilgiri Hills between 1,200 and 1,500 m elevation. |
| U. ruhunae | Deraniyagala, 1954 | Sri Lanka | |
| U. smithi | Gans, 1966 | Smith's shieldtail, violet shieldtail | southern India |
| U. woodmasoni | (W. Theobald, 1876) | Palni shieldtail, black-bellied shieldtail | southern India |
*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
T) Type species.[1]
[edit] See also
- List of uropeltid species and subspecies
- Uropeltidae by common name
- Uropeltidae by taxonomic synonyms
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- ^ a b c "Uropeltis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634406. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
- ^ 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. p. 144.
[edit] Further reading
- Captain A. 2003. Checklist of Indian Snakes with English Common Names. PDF at the University of Texas at Austin. Accessed 2 September 2007.
[edit] External links
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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.
