''Melanophidium wynaudense'', commonly known as the Indian black earth snake, 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 ...

of snake in the

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 ...

Uropeltidae The Uropeltidae, also known commonly as the shieldtails or the shield-tailed snakes, are a family of primitive, nonvenomous, burrowing snakes native to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The name is derived from the Greek words ('tail') and ('sh ...

. 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Geographic range

''M. wynaudense'' is found in the Western Ghats of southern

. Type locality: "Cherambady in the Wynaud _Wayanad.html"_;"title="Wayanad.html"_;"title="_Wayanad">_Wayanad">Wayanad.html"_;"title="_Wayanad">_Wayanad.

_Description

Beddome_(1864:_180)_described_''M._wynaudense''_as_follows: "Scales_round_the_body_15,_round_the_neck_16_or_17;_rostral_scarcely_produced_back_between_the_nasals;_no_supraorbital;_muzzle_more_obtuse_than_in_''P._perrotteti'';_eye_small;_subcaudals_11_pairs;_anal_large,_bifid;_tail_compressed;_scales_smooth,_terminal_spinose,_tail_ending_in_a_single_horny_point. Colour_bluish_black,_with_broad_white_blotches_on_the_belly,_which_become_larger_and_more_numerous_towards_the_tail;_tail_uniform_bluish_black."

_Footnotes

_Further_reading

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Description

Beddome (1864: 180) described ''M. wynaudense'' as follows: "Scales round the body 15, round the neck 16 or 17; rostral scarcely produced back between the nasals; no supraorbital; muzzle more obtuse than in ''P. perrotteti''; eye small; subcaudals 11 pairs; anal large, bifid; tail compressed; scales smooth, terminal spinose, tail ending in a single horny point. Colour bluish black, with broad white blotches on the belly, which become larger and more numerous towards the tail; tail uniform bluish black."

Footnotes

*Richard Henry Beddome">Beddome RH (1863). "Descriptions of New Species of the Family Uropeltidæ from Southern India, with Notes on other little-known Species". ''Proc. Zool. Soc. London'' 1863: 225-229 + Plates XXV-XXVII. *Beddome RH (1863). "Further Notes upon the Snakes of the Madras Presidency; with some Descriptions of New Species". ''Madras Quart. J. Med. Sci.'' 6: 41-48. (''Plectrurus wynaudensis'', new species). [Reprint: (1940). ''J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Sci., London'' 1 (10): 306-314.] *Beddome RH (1864). "Descriptions of New Species of the Family Uropeltidæ from Southern India, with Notes on other little-known Species". ''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Third Series'' 13: 177-180. *Beddome RH (1886). "An Account of the Earth-Snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon". ''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Fifth Series'' 17: 3-33. * Boulenger GA (1890). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. ("''Melanophidium wynadense'' ic, p. 272). * Günther ACLG (1864). ''The Reptiles of British India''. London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. ("''Melanophidium wynandense'' ic, p. 194 + Plate XVII, figures I & I'). * Smith MA (1943). ''The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes''. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (''Melanophidium wynaudense'', p. 67).

External links

* Uropeltidae Reptiles of India Reptiles described in 1863 {{Alethinophidia-stub