SusannahParish: Created new details!

2026-03-04T09:28:46Z

Created new details!

New page

{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = ''Uropeltis dindigalensis''
| status = DD
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Srinivasulu, C. |author-link=species:Chelmala Srinivasulu |author2=Srinivasulu, B. |author2-link=species:Bhargavi Srinivasulu |author3=Ganesan, S.R. |author4=Vijayakumar, S.P. |author4-link=species:Seenapuram Palaniswamy Vijayakumar |date=2013 |title=''Uropeltis dindigalensis'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T172621A1353772 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T172621A1353772.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Uropeltis
| species = dindigalensis
| authority = ([[Richard Henry Beddome|Beddome]], 1877)
| synonyms = *''Silybura dindigalensis'' <br />{{small|Beddome, 1877}}
*''Uropeltis dindigalensis'' <br />{{small|— [[Malcolm Arthur Smith|M.A. Smith]], 1943}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{EMBL species|genus=Uropeltis|species=dindigalensis}} www.reptile-database.org</ref>
}}

'''''Uropeltis dindigalensis''''', [[Common name|commonly]] known as the '''Dindigul uropeltis''' and the '''Sirumalai Hills earth snake''', is a [[species]] of [[snake]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Uropeltidae]]. The species is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Sirumalai]] and surrounding hill ranges of the southern [[Eastern Ghats]], in [[Dindigul district]] of [[Tamil Nadu]] state in [[South India]].

==Geographic range and habitat==
''U. dindigalensis'' is found only in [[Sirumalai]], a part of the southern [[Eastern Ghats]] in [[Dindigul district]] of [[Tamil Nadu]] in [[South India]]. It occurs in high-elevation wet [[forest]]s, over {{cvt|900|m|ft}} above sea level. It is also sometimes met with in [[coffee]] and mixed [[fruit]] [[orchards]] and [[plantations]] in this region.

Type locality = "Heavy forest on the Sirumullay hills, near Dindigul, at 4000–5000
feet elevation".

==Description==
The [[Dorsum (anatomy)|dorsum]] of ''U. dindigalensis'' is yellowish with small dark brown spots, the yellow scales dark-edged. There is a yellow streak on the [[Labial scales|labials]], continuing along each side of the neck. The venter is dark brown with yellow spots or yellow short crossbars. The ventral surface of the tail is yellow.

The largest of the type specimens is 35.5 cm (14 inches) in total length (including tail).

The [[dorsal scales]] are in 19 rows behind the head, in 17 rows at midbody. The [[Ventral scales|ventrals]] number 156–168; the subcaudals number 5–10.

The snout is acutely pointed. The [[Rostral scale|rostral]] is laterally compressed, about two fifths the length of the shielded part of the head, the portion visible from above much longer than its distance from the frontal. The [[Nasal scale|nasals]] are in contact with each other behind the rostral. The [[Frontal scale|frontal]] is longer than broad. The eye is very small, not half the length of the ocular shield. The diameter of the body goes 26 to 32 times into the total length. The ventrals are twice as broad as the contiguous scales. The tail is obliquely truncate, flat dorsally, with strongly pluricarinate scales. The terminal scute has a transverse ridge and two points.<ref>[[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger, G.A.]] (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Uropeltidæ ....'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (''Silybura dindigalensis'', p. 152 + Plate VII, figure 1).</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Ganesh, S.R. |author-link=species:Sumaithangi Rajagopalan Ganesh |author2=Arumugam, M. |author2-link=species:Munusami Arumugam |title=Species Richness of Montane Herpetofauna of Southern Eastern Ghats, India: A Historical Resume and a Descriptive Checklist. |journal=Russian Journal of Herpetology |date=2016 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=7–24}}</ref>

==Habits==
A poorly-known snake, ''U. dindigalensis'' is not often documented in scientific studies due to its very small geographic range. A [[fossorial]], [[nocturnal]], slow-moving snake, it is known to feed on [[earthworm]]s.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
*[[Richard Henry Beddome|Beddome, R.H.]] (1877). "Descriptions of three new Snakes of the Family Uropeltidæ from Southern India". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' '''1877''': 167–168. (''Silybura dindigalensis'', new species, p. 167).
*Beddome, R.H. (1886). "An Account of the Earth-Snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon". ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Fifth Series'' '''17''': 3-33. (''Silybura dindigalensis'', p. 13).
*Ganesh, S.R.; Bhupathy, Subramanian; David, Patrick; Sathishkumar, N.; Srinivas, G. (2014). "Snake Fauna of High Wavy Mountains, Western Ghats, India: Species Richness, Status, and Distribution Pattern". ''Russian Journal of Herpetology'' '''21''' (1): 53-64
*McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A.; Touré, T.A. (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Vol. 1''. [type catalogue] Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series), {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).
* Pyron, R.A.; Ganesh, S.R.; Sayyed, A.; Sharma, V.; Wallach, V.; Somaweera, R. (2016). "A catalogue and systematic overview of the shield-tailed snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae)". [type catalogue] ''Zoosystema'' '''38''' (4): 453-506.
{{Refend}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q388118}}

[[Category:Uropeltidae]]
[[Category:Endemic reptiles of India]]
[[Category:Reptiles described in 1877]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Richard Henry Beddome]]

Uropeltis dindigalensis - Revision history

SusannahParish: Created new details!