Rhinophis travancoricus Boulenger, 1893

Pyron, Robert Alexander, Ganesh, Sumaithangi Rajagopalan, Sayyed, Amit, Sharma, Vivek, Wallach, Van & Somaweera, Ruchira, 2016, A catalogue and systematic overview of the shield-tailed snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae), Zoosystema 38 (4), pp. 453-506 : 486

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5252/z2016n4a2
publication LSID	urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BFFD82EF-50C9-42BF-8493-DF57591EA4FF
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4579363
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03A82A47-833C-FFA4-FF29-FF62FF377F5D
treatment provided by	Felipe (2021-03-03 17:02:42, last updated by Plazi 2023-11-01 22:57:55)
scientific name	Rhinophis travancoricus Boulenger, 1893
status

Treatment

Rhinophis travancoricus Boulenger, 1893b: 318 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: BMNH 1892.10 .5.2.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Vicinity of Thiruvanthapuram (Trivandrum), southern Kerala state (formerly the Kingdom of Travancore), India.

DISTRIBUTION. — India, in the southern Western Ghats from Thattekad to Kanyakumari, typically found mainly on of western slopes <800 m, but ranging from c. 0-1335 m (see Ferguson 1895, 1902; Smith 1943; Rajendran 1985; Wallach et al. 2014; Ganesh 2015).

DESCRIPTION

Maximum total length c. 240 mm, ventrals 132-148, subcaudals 5-9, dorsal scales in 17 rows at midbody (see Smith 1943; Rajendran 1985). Typically exhibits a non-descript color-pattern, with a purplish-brown dorsal and ventral coloration, dorsoventral and ventral scales with whitish-yellow margins, and underside of tail yellow.

REMARK

Relatively few specimens of this species seem to be known, though it has been recorded at localities other than the type locality since its description ( Boulenger 1893b; Rajendran 1985).

References

BOULENGER G. A. 1893 b. - Description of a new earth-snake from Travancore. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 7: 318.

FERGUSON H. S. 1895. - List of snakes taken in Travancore from 1888 - 1895. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 10: 68 - 77.

FERGUSON H. S. 1902. - Travancore Snakes. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 14: 386 - 387.

GANESH S. R. 2015. - Shieldtail snakes (Reptilia: Uropeltidae. - the Darwin's finches of south Indian snake fauna?, in KANNAN, P. (Ed.) Manual on Identification and Preparation of Keys of Snakes with Special Reference to their Venomous Nature in India. Proceedings by Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam, Tamilnadu, India, 13 - 24.

RAJENDRAN M. 1985. - Studies in uropeltid snakes. Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 132 p.

SMITH M. A. 1943. - The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor & Francis, London, 583 p.

WALLACH V., WILLIAMS K. L. & BOUNDY J. 2014. - Snakes of the World: a Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1209 p.