Smith's earth snake (''Uropeltis grandis''), also known
commonly as the violet shieldtail, is a
species of nonvenomous
snake in the
family Uropeltidae
The Uropeltidae, also known Common name, commonly as the shieldtails or the shield-tailed snakes, are a Family (biology), family of primitive, nonvenomous, burrowing snakes native to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The name is derived from the Gr ...
. The species is
endemic to
India.
Geographic range
''U. grandis'' is found in the
Anaimalai Hills of
Kerala, southern
India.
[
]
Taxonomy
''U. grandis'' had been classified in the past as ''Rhinophis grandis'' Beddome, ''Silybura grandis'' ( Beddome), and ''Uropeltis grandis'' ( Beddome). In 1966 Carl Gans renamed this species ''Uropeltis smithi'' in honor of American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
herpetologist Hobart M. Smith
Hobart Muir Smith, born Frederick William Stouffer (September 26, 1912 – March 4, 2013), was an American herpetologist. He is credited with describing more than 100 new species of American reptiles and amphibians. In addition, he has been ...
.
Description
Smith's earth snake, like all shieldtail snakes, has a characteristic pointed head and flattened tail.
The dorsum is dark violet. The venter is dark violet with alternating large yellow spots or crossbands.
Adults may attain in total length (including tail).
The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 19 rows at midbody (in 21 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 198-218; and the subcaudals number 6-12.
The snout is pointed. The rostral
Rostral may refer to:
Anatomy
* Rostral (anatomical term), situated toward the oral or nasal region
* Rostral bone, in ceratopsian dinosaurs
* Rostral organ, of certain fish
* Rostral scale, in snakes and scaled reptiles
Other uses
* Rostral colu ...
is ⅓ or ¼ the length of the shielded part of the head. The portion of the rostral visible from above is longer than its distance from the frontal. The nasals are either in contact with each other behind the rostral, or separated from each other by the rostral. The frontal is longer than broad. The eye is very small, its diameter less than ½ the length of the ocular shield. The diameter of the body goes 30 to 40 times into the total length. The ventrals are about two times as large as the contiguous scales, and are pluricarinate posteriorly in males. The tail is round or slightly laterally compressed, and the dorsal scales of the tail are strongly pluricarinate. The terminal scute has two small spines.[ Boulenger GA (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 grandis'', p. 148).]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of ''U. grandis'' is moist forest, at altitudes of .[
]
Reproduction
''U. grandis'' is viviparous.[
]
References
Further reading
* Beddome RH (1867). "Descriptions and figures of Five New Snakes from the Madras Presidency". ''Madras Quart. J. Med. Sci.'' 11: 14-16. (''Rhinophis grandis'', new species). eprint: (1940). ''J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Sci., London'' 1 (10): 315- 317.*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. (''Silybura grandis'', new combination, p. 11).
* Gans, Carl (1966). "''Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Uropeltidae'' ". ''Das Tierreich'' 84: 1-29. (''Uropeltis smithi'', new name). (in German).
* 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. (''Uropeltis grandis'', new combination, pp. 85–86, Figures 25A, 25B, 25C).
{{Taxonbar, from=Q428066, from2=Q60622469
Uropeltidae
Reptiles of India
Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats
Reptiles described in 1867
Taxa named by Richard Henry Beddome