''Platyceps bholanathi'', also known as the Nagarjun Sagar racer, Nagarjunasagar racer, Nagarjuna racer, Bhola Nath's racer, or Sharma's racer, is a species of colubrid snake. It is found in peninsular India, in the Eastern Ghats and the Deccan Plateau, in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. It is a rather recently described species, that was first discovered in 1976, in the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam by scientists of the

Zoological Survey of India The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded on 1 July 1916 by Government of India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, as premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, exploration and r ...

. It is a diurnal, fast-moving, active snake, living among rock boulders. It feeds on

lizards Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia althou ...

, small mammals, and

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

Description

A slender snake; rich brown above with white, black-edged rounded or ovoid spots on the back; underside white. Scales: Supralabials 9; loreal 1, preocular 1-2, postocular 2, subpostocular 1 or absent, temporal 2+2 or 2+3; 19 mid body rows; ventral 201-212, anal divided; subcaudal 105-121, paired.

Distribution

This species is known from Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in Telangana, Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Bellary in Karnataka and Gingee and

Hosur Hosur is an industrial city located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hosur is one of the municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state ...

in Tamil Nadu, essentially covering all of the rocky hillocks and outcrops in south India.

References

* Guptha, Bubesh; Nimmakayala Venkata Sivaram Prasad, Deepak Veerappan. 2012. Rediscovery and range extension of ''Coluber bholanathi'' Sharma, 1976 from Seshachalam hills, Andhra Pradesh, India. Herpetology Notes 6: 447–448. *Ganesh S. R., Adimallaiah D., Kailash P. K. (2013) New locality records of Nagarjun Sagar Racer Snake, ''Coluber bholanathi'' Sharma, 1976. Herpetotropicos. 9 (1-2): 09–12. * Seetharamaraju, M. & C. Srinivasulu 2013. Discovery and description of male specimen of Coluber bholanathi Sharma, 1976 (Reptilia: Colubridae) from Hyderabad, India. Taprobanica 5 (1): 32–35. * Sharma, R. C. 1976. Some observations on ecology and systematics of ''Coluber bholanati'', a new species of snake from India. Comp. Physiol. Ecol. 1 (3): 105–107. * Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. Akhil Books, New Delhi, 292 pp. * Sharma, Vivek; Jose Louies, Aditya Vattam 2013. A Contribution to ''Coluber bholanathi'' Sharma, 1976 (Serpentes: Colubridae). Russ. J. Herpetol. 20 (4): 259–263. * Smart, Utpal; Eric N. Smith, B.H.C.K. Murthy & Arun Mohanty 2014. Report of Nagarjunasagar Racer ''Coluber bholanathi'' Sharma, 1976 (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. JoTT 6 (4): 5671–5674. Platyceps Snakes of Asia Reptiles of India Endemic fauna of India Reptiles described in 1976 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Colubrids-stub