- Uropeltis ocellata
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Uropeltis ocellata Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Uropeltidae Genus: Uropeltis Species: U. ocellata Binomial name Uropeltis ocellata
(Beddome, 1863)Synonyms - Silybura Ocellata - Beddome, 1863
- Silybura ocellata - Beddome, 1863
- Silybura ochracea - Beddome, 1878
- Silybura dupeni - Beddome, 1878
- Silybura ocellata - Boulenger, 1893
- Uropeltis ocellatus - M.A. Smith, 1943
- Uropeltis (Siluboura) ocellatus - Mahendra, 1984
- Uropeltis ocellata - Das, 1996[1]
- Common names: ocellated shieldtail, Nilgiri uropeltis.
Uropeltis ocellata is a non-venomous shield tail snake species found in southern India. No subspecies are currently recognized.[2]
Contents
Description
Beddome, 1864: "rostral pointed and much produced; nasal scutella meeting behind the rostral, and separating it from the frontals; eye very small, obscure, in front of ocular shield; other shields and labials as in the genus; scales round the neck in 18 rows, round the trunk in 17; caudal disk not very clearly defined; scales 2-5-keeled; terminal shield entire, or slightly 2-3-pronged; abdominals 199; subcaudals 8 or 10 pairs, some generally entire. Total length 14.5 inches. Colour of the body of the male yellowish, becoming gradually brown near the head and tail, of the female dull brownish, of the young dark purplish brown; all banded with transverse rows of four or five black-edged white or yellow spots (like eyes), generally rather irregularly placed. Sides of the belly with transverse, very irregular shaped, yellow or white blotches, rarely meeting over the abdominals, and forming a transverse band."[3]
Geographic range
Found in southern India in the Western Ghats: south of the Goa Gap, Anaimalai, Cardomom (souther Kerala), Munnar Hills, Nilgiri Hills and Trivandrum. The type locality given is "at Walaghat on the western slopes of the Neilgherries in the dense forests at an elevation of 3,500 feet."[1]
References
- ^ a b 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).
- ^ "Uropeltis ocellata". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634745. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- ^ Beddome RH. 1864. Description of new species of the family Uropeltidae from Southern India, with notes on other little-known species. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 13: 177-180
Further reading
- Beddome RH. 1863. Descriptions of new species of the family Uropeltidae from Southern India, with notes on other little-known species. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1863: 225-229.
- Beddome, RH. 1863. Further notes upon the snakes of the Madras Presidency; with some descriptions of new species. Madras Quart. J. Med. Sci., 6: 41-48 [Reprint: J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Sci., London, 1 (10): 306-314, 1940]
- Beddome RH. 1878. Description of six new species of snakes of the genus Silybura, family Uropeltidae. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1878: 800-802.
- Beddome RH. 1886. An account of the earth snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 17: 3-33.
- Rajendran MV. 1979. Uropeltis ocellatus Beddome morphology, ecology and distribution. Recording two subspecies U. ocellatus gansi and U. ocellatus krishnasami. Journal of Madurai Kamaraj University Series B Sciences 8 (1): 97-99,
External links
- Uropeltis ocellatus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 2 September 2007.
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