Ristella travancorica

Taxobox | name = Travancore Ristella


regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Sauria
familia = Scincidae
genus = "Ristella"
species = "R. travancorica"
binomial = "Ristella travancorica"
binomial_authority = (Beddome, 1870)

Travancore Ristella ("Ristella travancorica") is a species of skink endemic to the Western Ghats. It is also called the Travancore Cat Skink.

Characteristics of the genus "Ristella"

Palatine and pterygoid bones in contact on the median line of the palate, which is toothless;palatine notch small, far behind , corresponding to the posterior notch of the tongue. Teeth conical. Eyelids well developed, scaly. Ear-opening distinct. Nostril pierced in a single nasal; no supranasals; prefrontals small or coalesced; frontoparietals and interparietal distinct. Limbs well developed, anterior with 4, posterior with 5 digits; claws completely retractile into a large compressed sheath formed of one large scale cleft beneath. Found in the Western Ghats of southern India. [Boulenger, G.A.(1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.]

Description

Ear-opening not or but slightly larger than the nostril; third to sixth upper labials below the eye. Dorsal scales sharply bicarinate; 24, rarely 26 scales round the middle of the body. Otherwise as in "R. rurkii". Reddish brown above, each dorsal scale usually with a dark brown dot; usually a rather indistinct darker lateral band; lower surfaces uniform whitish. From snout to vent 1.5 inches.

Distribution

Western Ghats, Tirunelveli Hills

Notes

References

* Beddome,R.H. 1870 Descriptions of some new lizards from the Madras Presidency. Madras Monthly J. Med. Sci. 1: 30-35