Uropeltis arcticeps ( Günther, 1875 )

Pyron, Robert Alexander, Ganesh, Sumaithangi Rajagopalan, Sayyed, Amit, Sharma, Vivek, Wallach, Van & Somaweera, Ruchira, 2016, A catalogue and systematic overview of the shield-tailed snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae), Zoosystema 38 (4), pp. 453-506 : 489

Uropeltis arcticeps ( Günther, 1875)

Silybura arcticeps Günther, 1875: 229 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Two syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.16.11-12.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Tirunelveli hills, Tamil Nadu state, India.

DISTRIBUTION. — Known from the Agasthyamalai and nearby hills of India South of the Sencotta Gap, at elevations c. 1200-1800 m ( Whitaker & Captain 2004; Ganesh et al. 2014; Wallach et al. 2014; Ganesh 2015).

DESCRIPTION

Maximum total size c. 290 mm, ventrals 127-128, subcaudals 8 or 9, dorsal scales in 17 rows at midbody (see Smith 1943; Gower et al. 2008; Ganesh et al. 2014). Type V tail-shield, in accordance with Smith’s (1943) state II, the tail is sharply truncated dorsally at a c. 45° angle, with the enlarged dorsal scales bi- or tri-carinate. Snout is “Alternate Rounded;” semicircular when viewed from above. Color pattern typically a brown dorsum with yellow ventral coloration extending irregularly onto the sides.

REMARKS

This species appears to be very rarely collected or reported. The species Uropeltis madurensis was once considered a synonym ( Smith 1943) or subspecies ( Whitaker & Captain 2004) of U. arcticeps , but has been resurrected from the synonymy of U. arcticeps (see Ganesh et al. 2014).