Uropeltis shorttii (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 : 498

Uropeltis shorttii (Beddome, 1863)

( Fig. 9D )

Silybura shorttii Beddome, 1863a: 45 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Five syntypes: BMNH 1874.4.29.737-739 (= 1946.1.15.91-94), and MNHN-RA-1895.100.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Near Salem, Shevaroy hills, Tamil Nadu state, India.

DISTRIBUTION. — Endemic to the Shevaroy hills (Salem District of Tamil Nadu state, India) in the southern Eastern Ghats, at elevations> 1300 m (see Ganesh et al. 2014; Ganesh 2015; Ganesh & Arumugam 2016).

DESCRIPTION

Maximum total length c. 360 mm, ventrals 137-156, subcaudals 10-12, dorsal scales in 17 rows at midbody (see Gower 2006; Ganesh et al. 2014). Tail is Smith’s (1943) state II (our Type V), resembling that of U. ceylanica or U. macrolepis in being sharply truncated at a c. 45° angle, with thickened, enlarged, bi- or tri-carinate shield scales, and terminating in an enlarged, rugose scute with two points. Snout is “Alternate Rounded”. Distinctive color-pattern, having a blackish brown dorsum and venter, with irregular partial crossbands of bright yellow down the length of the body.

REMARKS

This species (see Beddome 1863a) was recently resurrected from the synonymy of Uropeltis ceylanica (see Ganesh et al. 2014), from which it is clearly distinct based on geographic distribution and color pattern. A recent field study ( Ganesh & Arumugam 2016) in its type locality yielded further sightings of this point-endemic species. We did not examine the types; a lectotype should be chosen by future revisers.

Figures

FIG. 9. — Some uropeltid species photographed in life: A, Uropeltis madurensis (Beddome, 1878); B, U. phipsonii (Mason, 1888); C, U. pulneyensis (Beddome, 1863); D, U. shorttii (Beddome, 1863). Photos by SRG and S. Ramchandran.