Teretrurus Beddome, 1886

Ganesh, S. R. & Channakeshava Murthy, B. H., 2022, Taxonomy of the shieldtail snake genus Teretrurus Beddome, 1886 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) with a revised key and remarks on the geographic gaps in the Western Ghats, Peninsular India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 122 (1), pp. 25-35 : 27-32

Teretrurus Beddome, 1886

1886. Teretrurus Beddome, Acct. Earth Snakes Pen. of India & Ceylon. p. 28.

1921. Brachyophidium Wall. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 28: p. 41.

Type Species: Plectrurus sanguineus Beddome, 1867 (by subsequent designation; Beddome, 1886; Pyron et al., 2016)

For the synonym, Brachyophidium rhodogaster Wall, 1921 (by original description; Wall, 1921)

Content: Four species viz. Teretrurus sanguineus ( Beddome, 1867) , T. hewstoni ( Beddome, 1876) , T. travancoricus ( Beddome, 1886) and T. rhodogaster Wall, 1921.

Differential Diagnosis: A genus of uropeltid snakes characterized by: absence of mental groove (vs. present in Melanophidium ); presence of a distinct temporal scale (vs. absent in Plectrurus , Pseudoplectrurus ); eye within an ocular scale (vs. eye distinct from surrounding scales in Platyplectrurus ); has midline contact between nasal scales (vs. absent in most Rhinophis and some Uropeltis spp. ); 15 midbody scale rows (vs. 17-19 in most Rhinophis and Uropeltis spp. ); tail compressed, simple, without a caudal disc (vs. tail rounded, ending in a truncate or convex caudal disc in Uropeltis and Rhinophis spp. ); tail tipending in a pointed structure, without lateral ridges (vs. tail tip ending in two bicuspid ridges in Plectrurus , Pseudoplectrurus ; tail tip with lateral ridges in Platyplectrurus ).

Distribution range: Western Ghats ranges viz. Waynad, Nilgiris, Anaimalai, Palni, Travancore / Agasthyamalai (Kerala, Tamil Nadu states), southwest India ( Wallach et al., 2014; this work).

Revised key to the genus Teretrurus (modified from Smith, 1943)

I. Supraocular fused with ocular shield; prefrontals long;

Ventrals 131-146; venter uniform, unpatterned orange red ….….….….….….….….…. T. rhodogaster

II. Supraocular separated from ocular shield; prefrontals short;

Ventrals 120-128; venter orange with broad purplish brown blotches ….….….….….….….…... T. hewstoni

Ventrals 130-136; venter red with prominent black patches….….….….….….….…...…... T. travancoricus

Ventrals 141-150; venter often uniform red, with a few black spots ….….….….….….….…...… T. sanguineus