''Platyplectrurus madurensis'', commonly known as the Travancore Hills thorntail snake, Palni purple-brown worm thorntail snake, or Madurai shieldtail, is a
species of
uropeltid snake. It is found in southern
India[ and, depending on the source, Sri Lanka.]
Geographic range
''P. madurensis'' is found in the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Type locality of ''Platyplectrurus madurensis'': "About Kodiukarnal on the Pulney Mountains (Madura district), 6000 feet elevation".
Type locality of ''Wallia inexpectata'': "Südindien (Pulney Hills, Madura)".
Type locality of ''Platyplectrurus ruhanae'': " Galle" district in the Southern Province, Sri Lanka
The Southern Province ( si, දකුණු පළාත ''Dakuṇu Paḷāta'', ta, தென் மாகாணம் ''Theṉ Mākāṇam'') of Sri Lanka is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of t ...
.
Description
The dorsum of ''P. madurensis'' is iridescent purplish brown. The ventrals and the scales in the two adjoining rows on both sides are white in the center, with purplish brown borders.
The longest of Beddome's type specimens measures in total length (including tail).
The dorsal scales are in 15 rows at midbody (in 17 rows behind the head). The ventrals
In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that cont ...
number 158-175; and the subcaudals, 10–15.
''P. madurensis'' is very similar to '' P. trilineatus'', except the head shields are shorter, and the supraocular
In scaled reptiles, supraocular scales are (enlarged) scales on the crown immediately above the eye.Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. ...
is not longer than the prefrontal. Diameter of body 38-42 times in total length.
Subspecies
Two subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognized, including the nominate race.
*'' Platyplectrurus madurensis madurensis''
*'' Platyplectrurus madurensis ruhanae'' [Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Platyplectrurus madurensis ruhanae'', p. 228).] Some sources consider it to be a separate species.[
]
References
Further reading
* Beddome RH (1877). "Descriptions of three new Snakes of the Family Uropeltidae from Southern India". ''Proc. Zool. Soc. London'' 1877: 167–168. (''Platyplectrurus madurensis'', new species, p. 167).
*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. (''Platyplectrurus madurensis'', p. 274).
* Das I (2002). ''A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India''. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. . (''Platyplectrurus madurensis'', p. 59).
* Deraniyagala PEP (1954). "Two new snakes from Ceylon". ''Proc. 10th Congress Ceylon. Assoc. Advancement Sci.'' 1: 24.
* 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. (''Platyplectrurus madurensis'', p. 69).
*Werner F Werner may refer to:
People
* Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name
Fictional characters
* Werner (comics), a German comic book character
* Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Ra ...
(1925). "''Neue oder wenig bekannte Schlangen aus dem Naturhistorischen Staatsmuseum in Wien. II'' ". ''Teil. Sitz. Ber. Akad. Wiss., Wien, Abt. I,'' 134: 45–66.
Uropeltidae
Reptiles of India
Reptiles described in 1877
Taxa named by Richard Henry Beddome
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