Tamil Nadu Earth Snake
Rhinophis travancoricus
Rhinophis travancoricus, commonly known as the Travancore shieldtail or Tamil Nadu earth snake, is a species of uropeltid snake endemic to India.
From the article Rhinophis travancoricus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Dark purplish brown, scales on the sides and on the ventrum edged with whitish. Anal region black. Ventral surface of tail yellow. The total length of the type specimen is 17 cm (6+3⁄4 in). Dorsal scales in 17 rows at midbody (in 19 rows behind the head). Ventrals 146; subcaudals 6. Snout acutely pointed. Rostral slightly laterally compressed, not keeled, about ⅓ the length of the shielded part of the head. Nasals separated by the rostral. Eye in the ocular shield. No supraoculars. Frontal longer than broad. No temporals. No mental groove. Diameter of body 34 times in the total length. Ventrals about 1½ times the size of the contiguous scales. Tail ending in a large convex rugose shield, which is neither truncated nor spinose at the end. Caudal disc slightly shorter than the shielded part of the head.
Range & habitat
It is found in southern India (Travancore, Trivandrum, Peermade, Ernakulam). Type locality: "near Trevandrum, at the 6th mile-stone towards Vambayam".
Wikipedia: “Geographic range”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Rhinophis travancoricus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 32381.