Uropeltis smithi

Uropeltis smithi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Suborder:Serpentes
Family:Uropeltidae
Genus:Uropeltis
Species: U. smithi
Binomial name
Uropeltis smithi
Gans, 1966
Synonyms[2]
  • (non Uropeltis grandis
    Kelaart, 1853)
  • Rhinophis grandis
    Beddome, 1867
  • Silybura grandis
    — Beddome, 1886
  • Silybura grandis
    — Boulenger, 1893
  • Uropeltis grandis
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Uropeltis smithi
    Gans, 1966
    (nomen novum)

Uropeltis smithi, commonly known as Smith's earth snake or the violet shieldtail, is a species of nonvenomous shieldtail snake. It is endemic to India.

Geographic range

U. smithi is found mainly in the Anamallay forests of southern India, in moist woods at around 1,200 m (3,900 ft).

Taxonomy

Uropeltis smithi had been classified in the past as Rhinophis grandis Beddome, Silybura grandis (Beddome), and Uropeltis grandis (Beddome).[3] In 1966 Carl Gans renamed this species Uropeltis smithi in honor of American herpetologist Hobart M. Smith.[4] This new name (nomen novum) was created to prevent confusion with a different species of snake, Uropeltis grandis Kelaart, which is a synonym of Pseudotyphlops philippinus.

Description

Smith's earth snake, like all shieldtail snakes, has a characteristic pointed head and flattened tail.[5]

Dorsum dark violet. Venter dark violet with alternating large yellow spots or crossbands.

Adults may attain 48 cm (18 7⁄8 in) in total length (including tail).

Smooth dorsal scales arranged in 19 rows at midbody (in 21 rows behind the head). Ventrals 198-218; subcaudals 6-12.

Snout pointed. Rostral ⅓ or ¼ the length of the shielded part of the head. The portion of the rostral visible from above longer than its distance from the frontal. Nasals either in contact with each other behind the rostral, or separated from each other by the rostral. Frontal longer than broad. Eye very small, its diameter less than ½ the length of the ocular shield. Diameter of body 30 to 40 times in the total length. Ventrals about two times as large as the contiguous scales, pluricarinate posteriorly in males. Tail round or slightly laterally compressed, dorsal scales of the tail strongly pluricarinate. The terminal scute with two small spines.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Srinivasulu C, Srinivasulu B, Ganesan SR, Vijayakumar SP (2013). "Uropeltis smithi". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2013: e.T178411A1533142. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T178411A1533142.en. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Uropeltis smithi ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ↑ "Uropeltis smithi BEDDOME 1867". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
  4. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Uropeltis smithi, p. 247).
  5. ↑ "Shieldtail Snakes (Uropeltidae)". Answers. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
  6. ↑ Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Uropeltidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Silybura grandis, p. 148).

Further reading

  • Beddome RH (1867). "Descriptions and figures of Five New Snakes from the Madras Presidency". Madras Quart. J. Med. Sci. 11: 14-16. (Rhinophis grandis, new species). [Reprint: (1940). J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Sci., London 1 (10): 315- 317.]
  • Beddome RH (1886). "An Account of the Earth-Snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Fifth Series 17: 3-33. (Silybura grandis, new combination, p. 11).
  • Gans, Carl (1966). "Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Uropeltidae ". Das Tierreich 84: 1-29. (Uropeltis smithi, new name).
  • Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Uropeltis grandis, new combination, pp. 85–86, Figures 25A, 25B, 25C).
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