Uropeltis rubromaculata

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Uropeltis rubromaculata
Uropeltis rubromaculata by Sandeep Das.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Uropeltidae
Genus: Uropeltis
Species:
U. rubromaculata
Binomial name
Uropeltis rubromaculata
(Beddome, 1867)
Synonyms [2]
  • Silybura rubro-maculata
    Beddome, 1867
  • Silybura rubromaculata
    — Beddome, 1886
  • Silybura rubromaculata
    — Boulenger, 1893
  • Uropeltis rubromaculatus
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Uropeltis (Siluboura) rubromaculatus
    — Mahendra, 1984
  • Uropeltis rubromaculata
    — Das, 1996
Common names: red-spotted earth snake.

Uropeltis rubromaculata is a species of nonvenomous shieldtail snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to southern India. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid. [3]

Contents

Geographic range

U. rubromaculata is found in southern India in the Western Ghats in the Anaimalai Hills and Nilgiri Hills between 1,200 and 1,500 m (3,900 and 4,900 ft) elevation. [4]

The type locality given is "Anamallay forests; 4,000 feet elevation" (1,200 m). [2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of U. rubromaculata is forest, at altitudes of 600–1,800 m (2,000–5,900 ft), but it has also been found in disturbed and artificial habitats such as plantations, manure piles, and drains. [1]

Description

The dorsum of U. rubromaculata is olive-brown. There are some red blotches on each side of the anterior portion of the body, and one red blotch on each side of the tail near the vent. The venter is variegated with yellow and red.

Adults may attain 34 cm (13+3⁄8 in) in total length (including tail).

The dorsal scales are arranged in 17 rows at midbody, in 19 rows behind the head. The ventrals number 127–136, and the subcaudals number 8–10.

The snout is obtuse. The rostral is slightly more than ¼ the length of the shielded part of the head. The portion of the rostral visible from above is as long as its distance from the frontal. The nasals are in contact with each other behind the rostral. The frontal is slightly longer than broad. The diameter of the eye is ½ or slightly more than ½ the length of the ocular shield. The diameter of body goes 25 to 33 times into the total length. The ventrals are two times as broad as the contiguous scales. The end of the tail is flat dorsally, obliquely truncate, with strongly bicarinate or tricarinate scales. The terminal scute has a transverse ridge and two points. [5]

Behaviour

U. rubromaculata is terrestrial and fossorial. [1]

Reproduction

U. rubromaculata is ovoviviparous. [4]

Related Research Articles

Uropeltis beddomii, commonly known as Beddome's earth snake, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to India.

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Uropeltis dindigalensis, commonly known as the Dindigul uropeltis and the Sirumalai Hills earth snake, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to Sirumalai and surrounding hill ranges of the southern Eastern Ghats, in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu state in South India.

<i>Uropeltis ellioti</i> Species of snake

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<i>Uropeltis macrolepis</i> Species of snake

Uropeltis macrolepis, commonly known as the Bombay earth snake, the Bombay shieldtail, and the large-scaled shieldtail, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to southern India. There are two recognized subspecies.

Uropeltis macrorhyncha is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to India. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

<i>Uropeltis maculata</i> Species of snake found in India

Uropeltis maculata, also known commonly as the spotted earth snake and the spotted shieldtail, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to southern India. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

Uropeltis myhendrae, commonly known as Boulenger's earth snake, the Mahendragiri earth snake, and the Myhendra Mountain uropeltis, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to India.

Uropeltis nitida is a species of nonvenomous shieldtail snake. The species is endemic to southern India. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

Uropeltis ocellata is a species of non-venomous shieldtail snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is indigenous to southern India. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

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<i>Uropeltis phipsonii</i> Species of snake

Uropeltis phipsonii, commonly known as Phipson's earth snake and Phipson's shieldtail, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to India.

<i>Uropeltis pulneyensis</i> Species of snake

Uropeltis pulneyensis, commonly known as the Indian earth snake and the Palni shieldtail, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats of India.

Uropeltis rubrolineata is a species of nonvenomous shieldtail snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to southern India. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

Smith's earth snake, also known commonly as the violet shieldtail, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to India.

<i>Uropeltis woodmasoni</i> Species of snake

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.

<i>Uropeltis shorttii</i> Species of snake

Uropeltis shorttii, also known commonly as the Shevaroy Hills earth snake and Shortt's shieldtail snake, is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to the southern Eastern Ghats of India. This species was first described as Silybura shorttii by British naturalist Richard Henry Beddome in 1863. It is found only in the Shevaroy Hills of Salem district in Tamil Nadu state in South India. For a long time, this species was misclassified into Uropeltis ceylanica, a snake endemic to the Western Ghats, till a recent taxonomic study proved it to be a distinct species with a very narrow geographic range. It is a burrowing snake, presumed to be nocturnal, feeding on soft-bodied worms. It becomes active during the rains. U. shorttii has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2019, and is listed as "Critically Endangered" under criteria B1ab(iii).

<i>Uropeltis madurensis</i> Species of reptile

Uropeltis madurensis, also known commonly as the Madura earth snake and the Madurai shieldtail, is an endangered species of small, fossorial, nonvenomous snake of the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Srinivasulu, C.; Srinivasulu, B.; Ganesan, S.R.; Vijayakumar, S.P. (2018). "Uropeltis rubromaculata (amended version of 2013 assessment)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . IUCN. 2018: e.T178483A127981009. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T178483A127981009.en . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN   1-893777-00-6 (series), ISBN   1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  3. ↑ "Uropeltis rubromaculata". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 2 September 2007.
  4. 1 2 "Uropeltis rubromaculata". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  5. ↑ Boulenger, G.A. (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 rubromaculata, p. 157).

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