Plectrurus guentheri Beddome, 1863

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 : 478

Plectrurus guentheri Beddome, 1863

Plectrurus guentheri Beddome, 1863a: 48 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: BMNH 1883.1 .12.54 (= 1946.1.16.32).

TYPE LOCALITY. — Walaghat, Nilgiri hills, Kerala state, India.

DISTRIBUTION. — India, known only from the Nilgiris (Walaghat and Coonoor) at elevations 1065-2250 m (see Rajendran 1985; Wallach et al. 2014; Ganesh 2015).

DESCRIPTION

Maximum total length c. 375 mm, ventrals 171-175, subcaudals 10-12, and terminal scute of tail with multiple ridges (see Smith 1943; Rajendran 1985). Color-pattern distinctive, with a purplish-black dorsum and golden-yellow venter, which extends onto the dorsum in irregular triangles up the side of the body, running its length.

REMARKS

This species has apparently been collected only once (in 1972) since the late 19th century (see Rajendran 1985). As with many other uropeltid species, we consider Beddome (1863a) to be the original description, rather than Beddome (1863b).