Rhinophis sanguineus
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| Salty Earth Snake | ||||||||||||||||
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| Rhinophis sanguineus Beddome, 1863 |
Salty Earth Snake (Rhinophis sanguineus) is a species of uropeltid snake found in the Western Ghats of India.
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[edit] Description
Description after Beddome (1864: 178): "Scales of the body large, in 15 rows; of the anterior portion of the trunk sometimes in 17; rostral much produced, very sharp, conical, horny, produced back, and covering the conjunction of the nasals; nostril in front of nasal shield; eye very small and obscure, in front of ocular shield; four upper labials, 1st small, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th large; caudal disk nearly as long as tail, oblong, covered with excrescences, a red streak down the centre and one on each side. Colour of the body bluish black; belly bright red, with blackish mottlings; anal bifid; subcaudals of the male 9 or 10 pairs, each with 4 to 6 keels, and some of the approximated ventral plates and a few of the two lowest rows of scales also keeled; female subcaudals 6 or 7. Total length of large male 13 inches, female 10 inches; circumference 1 inch; abdominals 195. The brilliant red colour of the abdomen fades in spirits."
Description of Rhinophis microlepis after Beddome (1864: 179): "Scales of the body small, in 15 rows; of the anterior portion of the trunk in 17, of the neck in 19. Caudal disk oblong, orbicular, one-half the length of the tail, covered with excrescences, which are confluent into streaks; subcaudals 10; anal bifid; head-plates as in R. sanguineus, but rostral less sharp. Colour of the body greyish black, with indistinct dull yellowish white mottlings; belly yellowish white, with dark mottlings; tail beneath yellowish, with a broad black spot. Abdominals very small, 199. Total length 6 inches; circumference 61 lines"
[edit] Distribution
S India (Mysore [Koppa, Kalsa], Wynaad, Nilgiris, Travancore, Tinnevelly) Type locality: Cherambady [Cherambódy], in the Wayanad (Malabar), elevation 3,500 feet", S India [Rhinophis sanguineus Beddome 1863] Type locality: Mr. Minchin's Estate in the Wayanad (elevation 3,500 feet), S India [Rhinophis microlepis Beddome 1863]
[edit] Further reading
- Beddome, Richard Henry 1863 Descriptions of new species of the family Uropeltidae from Southern India, with notes on other little-known species. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1863: 225-229.
- Beddome, Richard Henry 1863 Further notes upon the snakes of the Madras Presidency; with some descriptions of new species. Madras Quart. J. Med. Sci., 6: 41-48 [Reprint: J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Sci., London, 1 (10): 306-314, 1940]
- Beddome,R.H. 1864 Description of new species of the family Uropeltidae from Southern India, with notes on other little-known species. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 13: 177-180
- Beddome,R.H. 1886 An account of the earth snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 17: 3-33.
- Mason, George E. 1888 Description of a new earth-snake of the genus Silybura from the Bombay Presidency with remarks on little known Uropeltidae. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 22: 184-186.
[edit] External links
- Rhinophis sanguineus at the TIGR Reptile Database. Accessed 13 December 2007.
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