''Eryx miliaris'', known as the dwarf sand boa, desert sand boa, or Tartar sand boa, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

in the

Boidae The Boidae, commonly known as boas or boids, are a family of nonvenomous snakes primarily found in the Americas, as well as Africa, Europe, Asia, and some Pacific Islands. Boas include some of the world's largest snakes, with the green anacond ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

.McDiarmid, Roy W.,

Jonathan A. Campbell Jonathan Atwood Campbell (born May 13, 1947) is an American herpetologist. He is currently professor of biology at University of Texas at Arlington. He was a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Biology, University of Texas a ...

, and T'Shaka A. Touré, 1999. ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. xi + 511 pp.

Description

The body is strong and round. The tail is very short and thick. The head is almost mixed with the body. The front part of the body is soft, while the back part is rough and raised. Like the Indian sand boa, this snake also rounds its body when threatened. It does not try to bite humans. The snake is a mixture of brown, red and black, which turns white on both sides. Its diet includes small birds, desert lizards and other small animals. The Tartar Sand Boa is one the larger members of the genus Eryx. Adult females can reach 4 feet in length. Like most other Sand Boas, adult males are considerably shorter, rarely reaching 30 inches (75 cm). According to some scientists The Tartar Sand Boa is viviparous, which means that the female gives birth to live young. The female has about 7-10 young. and some scientists believe that this species lay eggs like other oviparous snakes.

Distribution

''E. miliaris'' is found in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

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Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, southern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, and northwestern China.

Description

Distribution

References

Further reading