''Aspidura copei'', commonly known as Cope's rough-sided snake or කලු මැඩිල්ලා (''kalu medilla'') in Sinhalese, 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 ...

Colubridae. 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 ...

to Sri Lanka.

Etymology

The specific name, ''copei'', is in honor of American

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Edward Drinker Cope. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011) ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Aspidura copii'', pp. 58-59).

Geographic range

''A. copei'' is a found in the mountains of central Sri Lanka. Localities recorded are Dimbulla,

Dickoya Dickoya is a town in Nuwara Eliya District in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. Dickoya forms Hatton-Dickoya Urban Council with Hatton, Sri Lanka, Hatton. Popular places *Christ Church Warleigh, Dickoya. Refer ...

, Hopewell estate of

Balangoda Balangoda is a large town in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an urban council located away from Colombo and from Ratnapura on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the Sabaragamuw ...

Avissawella Avissawella, ( si, අවිස්සාවේල්ල, ta, அவிசாவளை) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka ...

, and Pundaluoya.

Description

The head of ''A. copei'' is indistinct from the neck, and the body is cylindrical. The dorsum is brown, with a brownish-olive mid-dorsal band, 2-3 scales wide, flanked on each side by a series of 23-26 dark blotches. The flanks have dark markings occupying 2-4 scales that reach the ventrals. The forehead is olive-brown, and the lips are light yellow, edged with black. A narrow dark band descends diagonally from the temporals, past the angle of mouth, to the edge of the ventrals. The venter is mottled green, with a series of solid blotches along the ventral mid-line. Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of 63.5 cm (2 feet, 1 inch).

Behaviour

''A. copei'' is a burrowing snake.

Scalation

In ''A. copei'' the

dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down t ...

are in 17 rows at midbody. Preoculars are absent. There are 2 postoculars in contact with the parietal. The ventrals number 123-137; and the

subcaudals In snakes, the subcaudal scales are the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail.Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . These scales may be either single or divided (pair ...

number 15-35.

Reproduction

Details of the reproduction of ''A. copei'' are generally unknown. Only one female with 21 "remarkably round" eggs was found.Wall 1921.

References

External links

*https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/176348/7223228 *http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=700771 *http://www.wildreach.com/reptile/Serpentes/Aspidura%20copei.php

* Boulenger GA (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (''Aspidura copii'', pp. 311–312). * Günther ACLG (1864). ''The Reptiles of British India''. London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (''Aspidura copii'', new species, p. 203 + Plate XVIII, figure E). * 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. (''Aspidura copii'', pp. 336–337). * Wall F (1921). ''Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon''. Colombo, Ceylon ri Lanka Colombo Museum. (H.R. Cottle, Government Printer). xxii + 581 pp. (''Aspidura copei'', pp. 207–208). {{Taxonbar, from=Q2866863 Aspidura Reptiles described in 1864 Reptiles of Sri Lanka Taxa named by Albert Günther