Shield-tailed snake
Encyclopedia
- Common names: pipe snakes, shield-tailed snakes.
The Uropeltidae are a family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of primitive burrowing snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s found in southern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The name is derived from the Greek words ura ("tail") and pelte ("shield"), indicating the presence of the large keratinous shield at the tip of the tail. Currently, 8 genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
are recognized comprising 47 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. These snakes are nonvenomous.
Description
Fossorial
A fossorial organism is one that is adapted to digging and life underground such as the badger, the naked mole rat, and the mole salamanders Ambystomatidae...
way of life, which is apparent in their anatomy. The skull is primitive and inflexible, with a short vertical quadrate bone
Quadrate bone
The quadrate bone is part of a skull in most tetrapods, including amphibians, sauropsids , and early synapsids. In these animals it connects to the quadratojugal and squamosal in the skull, and forms part of the jaw joint .- Evolutionary variation :In snakes, the quadrate bone has become elongated...
and rigid jaws; the coronoid bone is still present in the lower jaw. The orbital bones are absent, the supratemporal is vestigial and the eyes are small and degenerate, not covered by a brille
Brille
The brille is the layer of transparent, immovable disc-shaped skin or scale covering the eyes of some animals for protection, especially in animals without eyelids. The brille has evolved from a fusion of the upper and lower eyelids...
, but by large polygonal shields. However, the pelvis and hind limbs, the presence of which is also considered a primitive trait, have disappeared in this family.
The tail is characteristic, ending in either A) an enlarged rigid scale with two points, or more often an upper surface with a subcircular area covered with thickened spiny scales, or B) a much enlarged spiny plate. The ventral scales
Ventral scales
In snakes, the ventral scales are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that contacts the paraventral row of dorsal scales on either side...
are much reduced in size. The body is cylindrical and covered with smooth scale
Snake scales
Snakes, like other reptiles, have a skin covered in scales. Snakes are entirely covered with scales or scutes of various shapes and sizes. Scales protect the body of the snake, aid it in locomotion, allow moisture to be retained within, alter the surface characteristics such as roughness to aid in...
s.
Geographic range
Found in southern IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. In India, their distribution is mainly along the hills of Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
, and only one species, Elliot's shieldtail, Uropeltis ellioti
Uropeltis ellioti
Uropeltis ellioti, commonly known as Elliot's earth snake, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. It is endemic to India.-Etymology:The specific name or epithet, ellioti, is in honor of Scottish naturalist Walter Elliot....
, has been reported from other areas such as Eastern Ghats
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats or Eastern Ghauts are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka. They are eroded and cut through by the...
and hills of Central India. In Sri Lanka, they occur in areas whose climatic conditions are similar to that of Western Ghats, like the south western part of Sri Lanka.
Feeding
The diet consists mostly of invertebrateInvertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, particularly earth worms, although few studies have verified this.
Reproduction
All members of this family lay eggs that hatch within the body of the mother (ovoviviparousOvoviviparity
Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, or ovivipary, is a mode of reproduction in animals in which embryos develop inside eggs that are retained within the mother's body until they are ready to hatch...
).
Genera
| Genus | Taxon author | Species | Common name | Geographic range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brachyophidium Brachyophidium Brachyophidium is a monotypic genus created for the nonvenomous shield tail snake species, B. rhodogaster, found in southern India. No subspecies are currently recognized.-Geographic range:... |
Wall Frank Wall Frank Wall was a physician and herpetologist who lived in Sri Lanka and India.Wall was born in Colombo, Ceylon . His father worked there and was responsible for initiating the study of natural history on the island. Wall studied medicine in London and joined the Indian Medical Service in 1893... , 1921 |
1 | Southern India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... in the Palni Hills Palni Hills The Palni Hills are a mountain range in Tamil Nadu state of South India. The Palni Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palni Hills adjoin the high Anamalai range on the west, and extend east into the plains of Tamil Nadu,... . |
|
| Melanophidium Melanophidium Melanophidium is a genus of non-venomous shield tail snakes found in southern India. Currently, three species are recognized.-Geographic range:... |
Günther Albert C. L. G. Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist.... , 1864 |
3 | Southern India in the Peermade Hills Peermade Peermade, also transliterated as Perumade, Peerumed, Peerumade or Peermede, is a hill station in the state of Kerala, India... in Kerala Kerala or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions.... and the Anaimalai Hills Anaimalai Hills The Anaimalai Hills is a range of mountains in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala states of South India. The name "Anaimalai" derives from the Tamil word 'Ana' meaning elephant and 'Mala' meaning hill, thus Elephant Hill. The highest peak of the Anaimalai Hills is Anamudi, , located in the... in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh... . |
|
| Platyplectrurus Platyplectrurus Platyplectrurus is a genus of non-venomous shield tail snakes found in southern India and Sri Lanka. Currently, 2 species are recognized.-Species:*) Not including the nominate subspecies.T) Type species.... |
Günther, 1868 | 2 | Southern India and Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the... . |
|
| Plectrurus Plectrurus Plectrurus is a genus of non-venomous shield tail snakes found in southern India. Currently, 4 species are recognized.-Species:*) Not including the nominate subspecies.T) Type species.... |
A.H.A. Duméril Auguste Duméril Auguste Henri André Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of Herpetology and Ichthyology at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris from 1857. His father André Marie Constant Duméril was also a zoologist... , 1851 |
4 | Southern India. | |
| Pseudotyphlops Pseudotyphlops Pseudotyphlops is a monotypic genus of snakes containing the species P. philippinus, which is endemic to the island of Sri Lanka. No subspecies are currently recognized.-Geographic range:... |
Schlegel Hermann Schlegel Hermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.-Early life and education:Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history... , 1839 |
1 | Sri Lanka in central and southern Uva Uva Province Uva is Sri Lanka's second least populated province, with 1,187,335 people, created in 1896. It consists of two districts: Badulla බදුල්ල பதுளை and Moneragala මොනරාගල மொனராகல. The provincial capital is Badulla. Uva is bordered by Eastern, Southern and Central provinces... and Sabaragamuwa Province Sabaragamuwa Province Sabaragamuwa, is a province of Sri Lanka, and contains two main cities: Ratnapura and Kegalle. Sabaragamuwa University is in Belihuloya. It is named after its former indigenous inhabitants, namely the Sabara, an indic term for hunter gatherer tribes, a term seldom used in ancient Sri... s. |
|
| Rhinophis Rhinophis Rhinophis is a genus of non-venomous shield tail snakes found in southern India and Sri Lanka. Currently, 14 species are recognized and no subspecies.-Species:*) Not including the nominate subspecies.T) Type species.... |
Hemprich Wilhelm Hemprich Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich was a German naturalist and explorer.Hemprich was born in Glatz , Prussian Silesia, and studied medicine at Breslau and Berlin... , 1820 |
12 | Southern India and Sri Lanka. | |
| Teretrurus | Beddome Richard Henry Beddome Colonel Richard Henry Beddome was a British military officer in India, chief conservator of the Madras Forest Department and a naturalist... , 1886 |
1 | Southern India in Wayanad Wayanad District Wayanad District in the north-east of Kerala, India, was formed on November 1, 1980 as the 12th district by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. Kalpetta is the district headquarters as well as the only municipal town in the district. The region was known as Mayakshetra in the... , Travancore Travancore Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of... , Nalumukku, Oothu, the Manimuthar Hills (in the Western Ghats Western Ghats The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan... of Tirunelveli Tirunelveli Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu... ) and Nyamakad (in the Western Ghats of the Kerala Munnar Munnar Munnar is one of the most popular hill station in Kerala and in southern India. Munnar is located on the Western Ghats, situated in the Idukki district.... Hills). |
|
| Uropeltis Uropeltis Uropeltis is a genus of nonvenomous shield tail snakes found in southern India and Sri Lanka. Currently, 23 species are recognized.-Description:Eye in the ocular shield. No supraoculars. No temporals. No mental groove... T |
Cuvier Georges Cuvier Georges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier , known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist... , 1829 |
23 | Southern India and Sri Lanka. | |
T) Type genus
Type genus
In biological classification, a type genus is a representative genus, as with regard to a biological family. The term and concept is used much more often and much more formally in zoology than it is in botany, and the definition is dependent on the nomenclatural Code that applies:* In zoological...
.
See also
- List of uropeltid species and subspecies
- List of snakes, overview of all snake families and genera.