Uropeltis phipsonii

Taxobox
name = Phipson's Shieldtail


image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Uropeltis phipsonii" photographed at Mulshi, Pune-India
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Uropeltidae
genus = "Uropeltis"
species = "U. phipsonii"
binomial = "Uropeltis phipsonii"
binomial_authority = (Mason, 1888)

Phipson's Shieldtail "Uropeltis phipsonii" is a species of snake found in the Western Ghats. The species is named after H. M. Phipson, one of the founders of the Bombay Natural History Society.

Description

Cylindrical bodied, smooth-scaled, Head narrower than the neck. tail very short appears to be cut in slant. A broad yellow stripe on each side of the tail.

Behaviour

Largely unknown, lives underground, a burrower. Active above ground after heavy rains. Eats earthworms. A docile snake that has many predators including birds and wild boar.

Distribution

Endemic to India, reported at several places around Maharastra including hills around Mumbai and Pune.

Further reading

* Boulenger, G.A. 1893 Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp.
* Mason, George E. 1888 Description of a new earth-snake of the genus "Silybura" from the Bombay Presidency with remarks on little known Uropeltidae. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 22: 184-186.
* Rajendran, M. 1985 Studies in Uropeltid Snakes. Madurai University Press, Madurai.
* Whitaker, R and Captain,A. 2004 Snakes of India- the Field Guide. Draco Books, Chennai

External links

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