- Amphiesma beddomei
Taxobox | name = Nilgiri Keelback
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Reptilia
ordo =Squamata
subordo =Serpentes
familia =Colubridae
subfamilia =Natricinae
genus = "Amphiesma "
species = "A. beddomei"
binomial = "Amphiesma beddomei"
binomial_authority = (Günther, 1864)
range_map_caption =The Nilgiri Keelback "Amphiesma beddomei" is a species of snake found in the
Western Ghats in India.The species is named afterRichard Henry Beddome , 1830-1911, British army officer and botanist.This snake is an endemic species and it was first discovered near the
Nilgiris but found also in theWestern Ghats . This snake is terrestrial and feeds on toads.Description
:"See
snake scales for the terminology used"Eye moderate, its diameter in the adult equalling its distance from the nostril; rostral just visible from above; suture between the internasals as long as that between the prefrontals; frontal larger than its distance from the end of the snout, a little shorter than the parietals; loreal as long as deep or deeper than long; one preocular; three (rarely two) postoculars; temporals 1+1 or 1+2; upper labials 8 or 9, third, fourth and fifth, or fourth, fifth, and sixth entering the eye; 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shields, which are shorter than the posterior. Scales in 19 rows, rather strongly keeled, the outer however, perfectly smooth. Ventrals 131-150; anal divided ; subcaudals 65-75. Brown above; a series of yellow spots, each between two black spots or short transverse bands, along each side of the back; upper labials yellowish with black sutures; a yellow; black-edged, oblique streak from the eye to the gape; a yellow band across the nape, behind the parietals, becoming indistinct with age; belly white, closely dotted with brown on the sides. Total length 20 inches, tail 5.References
* Günther, A. 1864 The Reptiles of British India. London (Taylor & Francis), xxvii + 452 pp. [http://www.strangeark.com/ebooks/IndiaHerps.pdf PDF]
* Smith, M. A. 1941. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.External links
*
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