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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Species of snake}}<br />
{{speciesbox<br />
| name = Long sand racer<br />
| image = Stout Sand snake Psammophis longifrons by Krishna Khan Amravati.jpg<br />
| image_caption = Subadult ''Psammophis longifrons''<br />
| status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1<br />
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Srinivasulu, C. |author2=Srinivasulu, B. |author3=Mohapatra, P. |author4=Kulkarni, N.U. |author5=Thakur, S. |author6=Deepak, V. |year=2013 |title=''Psammophis longifrons'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T172688A1367315 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T172688A1367315.en |access-date=14 September 2021}}</ref><br />
| genus = Psammophis<br />
| species = longifrons <br />
| authority = [[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger]], 1890<br />
| synonyms = <br />
| range_map = <br />
| range_map_caption = <br />
}}<br />
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'''''Psammophis longifrons''''', the '''stout sand snake''' or '''long sand racer''', is a species of snake found in India.<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=RDB/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Vyas|first=Raju|title=Collection of a stout sand snake|year=1897 |journal=Hamadryad |volume=12|issue=2|pages=7–8}}</ref> It can grow to a maximum length of {{convert|57|in|cm|abbr=off|0}}.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Nande|first=Raghavendra|author2=Deshmukh, Sawan|title=Snakes of Amravati District including Melghat, Maharashtra, with important records of the Indian Egg-Eater, Mountain Trinket Snake and Indian Smooth Snake|journal=Zoos' Print Journal|date=December 2007|volume=22|issue=12|url=http://www.zoosprint.org/ZooPrintJournal/2007/December/2920-2924.pdf|doi=10.11609/jott.zpj.1653.2920-4|pages=2920–2924|access-date=2011-03-22|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180517/http://www.zoosprint.org/ZooPrintJournal/2007/December/2920-2924.pdf}}</ref><br />
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==Description==<br />
Greyish above in front, browner behind, the scales edged with black, particularly those of vertebral region. The top of the head is uniform greyish brown, or the scales are edged with black. Greyish or yellowish below. Total length 1230 mm, tail 375 mm. Of considerably stouter build than the other Indian member of this genus.<ref name="Smith 1943"/><br />
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Maxillary teeth 12 or 13, 2 in the middle very strongly enlarged, and preceded and followed by a distinct interval; internasal small, 1/2 or less than 1/2 the length of prefrontals; frontal long and narrow, not longer than its distance from end of snout, the anterior end suddenly not enlarged, not greatly broader there than in the middle, not in contact with the preocular; temporals 2+2, 8 [[supralabials]] 4th and 5th touching eye. V.166–175; C.79–93; A.2.<ref name="Smith 1943"/><br />
[[File:Psammophis longifrons.jpg|thumb|Stout sand snake (Maharashtra)|left]]<br />
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==Distribution==<br />
In [[Maharashtra]] it is reported from Bombay presidency north of 19 degree (Thana and Damanganga districts, Bulsar, Panch Mahal), C.P(Nagpur) and [[Amravati]]. In [[Gujarat]]; [[Surat]], Valsad, Navsari. In [[Madhya Pradesh]] it is recorded from [[Ujjain]] and [[Hoshangabad]]. These records show that this species is distributed in a very narrow range, including three western Indian states, namely Gujarat (central and south), Maharashtra (northern) and Madhya Pradesh (mainly southern west).<br />
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==Food and behaviour==<br />
Its habits are both terrestrial and arboreal.<ref name=IUCN/><br />
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In captivity (for a short period), it was observed that the snakes were timid and well set without any aggression. Five types of lizards (''Hemidactylus flaviviridis'', ''H. triedrus'', ''Calotes versicolor'', and ''Eutropis carinata'' and four types of frogs (''Duttaphrynus melanostictus'', ''Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis'', ''Sphaerotheca breviceps'', and ''Polypedates maculatus'') were provided and accepted as food.<br />
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==Reproduction==<br />
A female collected in [[Gujarat]] laid eight capsule shaped eggs.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist|refs=<br />
<ref name="Smith 1943">{{cite book|last=Smith|first= Malcolm A.|author-link=Malcolm Arthur Smith|year=1943| title=The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes |publisher=Secretary of State for India (Taylor and Francis, printers) |place=London |url=http://faunaofindia.nic.in/PDFVolumes/fbi/016/index.pdf }}</ref><br />
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<ref name=RDB>{{NRDB species |genus=Psammophis |species=longifrons |access-date=14 September 2021}}</ref><br />
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*Vyas and Patel (2013), NOTES ON DISTRIBUTION AND NATURAL HISTORY OF ''Psammophis longifrons'' BOULENGER 1896 (SERPENTES: PSAMMOPHIIDAE: PSAMMOPHIINAE) IN GUJARAT, INDIA. Russian Journal of Herpetology. Vol. 20, No. 3, 2013, pp.&nbsp;217 – 222<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* {{cite book|last=Boulenger|first=G. A.|title=Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum|year=1896|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=London|pages=xiv, 727}}<br />
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q3005650}}<br />
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[[Category:Psammophis|longifrons]]<br />
[[Category:Snakes of Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Endemic reptiles of India]]<br />
[[Category:Reptiles described in 1890]]<br />
[[Category:Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger]]<br />
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