Uropeltis woodmasoni

Uropeltis woodmasoni
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Uropeltidae
Genus: Uropeltis
Species:
U. woodmasoni
Binomial name
Uropeltis woodmasoni
(W. Theobald, 1876)
Synonyms[2]
  • Silybura melanogaster
    Günther, 1875
    (non Uropeltis melanogaster Gray, 1858)
  • Silybura Wood-Masoni
    Theobald, 1876
  • Silybura nigra
    Beddome, 1878
  • Silybura nigra
    — Boulenger, 1893
  • Uropeltis wood-masoni
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Uropeltis woodmasoni
    — Gans, 1966

Uropeltis woodmasoni, commonly known as Wood-Mason's earth snake or Woodmason's earth snake, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to India.

Etymology

The specific name, woodmasoni, is in honor of English zoologist James Wood-Mason.[3]

Geographic range

U. woodmasoni is found in southern India (Anamalai Hills and Palni Hills, Travancore, Tinnevelly, Nilgiris).

Type locality: "Anamallys and Travancore". (Silybura melanogaster Günther)

Type locality: "Palney hills, S India". (Silybura Wood-Masoni Theobald)

Type locality: "Pulney Mountains, 4,000 feet elevation". (Silybura nigra Beddome)[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of U. woodmasoni is forest, at altitudes of 1,800–2,000 m (5,900–6,600 ft).[1]

Description

The dorsum of U. woodmasoni is blackish or dark violet, with a transverse series of small round yellow spots or ocelli. There is a lateral series of large yellow spots which may be confluent into a stripe. The venter is blackish or dark violet.

Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of 28 cm (11 inches).

The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 19 rows at midbody, as well as behind the head. The ventrals number 163-178; the subcaudals number 6-11.

The snout is pointed. The portion of the rostral visible from above is longer than its distance from the frontal, in some specimens separating the nasals. The frontal is slightly longer than broad. The eye is small, its diameter slightly less than ½ the length of the ocular shield. The diameter of the body goes 23 to 30 times into the total length. The ventrals are about twice as large as the contiguous scales. The tail is rounded, and the dorsal scales of the tail are strongly pluricarinate. The terminal scute has two small points.[4]

Reproduction

U. woodmasoni is viviparous.[2]

Taxonomy

The scientific name Silybura melanogaster Günther is unavailable because it is a homonym of Uropeltis melanogaster Gray. Therefore, the specific name, melanogaster, was replaced with the next available specific name, woodmasoni, by Gans in 1966.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Srinivasulu, B.; Srinivasulu, C.; Ganesan, S.R.; Vijayakumar, S.P.; Prabhu, M. (2013). "Uropeltis woodmasoni ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T178375A1532051. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T178375A1532051.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Uropeltis woodmasoni at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 13 December 2007.
  3. ^ 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 woodmasoni, p. 289).
  4. ^ 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 nigra, p. 151).

Further reading

  • Beddome RH (1878). "Descriptions of new Uropeltidae from Southern India, with Remarks on some previously-described Species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1878 (1): 154–155.
  • Beddome RH (1886). "An Account of the Earth-Snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Fifth Series 17: 3-33.
  • Gans, Carl (1966). "Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Uropeltidae ". Das Terreich 84: 1-29. (in German).
  • Sharma RC (2003). Handbook: Indian Snakes. Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India. 292 pp. ISBN 978-8181711694.
  • 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 wood-masoni, p. 79).
  • Theobald, Wm. (1876). Descriptive Catalogue of the Reptiles of British India. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co. x + 238 + xxxviii + xiii pp. ("S. Wood-Masoni, Theob.", new species, p. 135).