Plectrurus perottetii
Nilgiri burrowing snake or Perrotet's shield-tail snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Uropeltidae
Genus: Plectrurus
Species:
P. perrotetii
Binomial name
Plectrurus perrotetii
Synonyms[1]
  • Plectrurus perroteti [sic]
    A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron
    & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854
  • Plectrurus perrotetii [sic]
    — McDiarmid, Campbell
    & Touré, 1999
  • Plectrurus perrotetii [sic]
    — Wallach et al., 2014

Plectrurus perrotetii, commonly known as the Nilgiri burrowing snake or Perrotet's shield-tail snake,[1] is a species of harmless snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to India.

Etymology

The specific name, perrotetii or perroteti, is in honour of French naturalist George Samuel Perrottet (1793–1867).[2]

Geographic range

P. perrotetii is found in the Western Ghats and hills of southern India.

Description

P. perrotetii is a small snake, growing to a maximum of 44 cm (17+1⁄4 in) in total length (including tail). The head is pointed, and the tail is blunt. It has smooth, glossy scales and is brown in colour.

Biology

Like the common worm snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus), Plectrurus perrotetii is also often mistaken for earthworms, upon which it feeds. It is considered an endangered species, and little else is known about this snake.

References

  1. 1 2 Species Plectrurus perroteti at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org
  2. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Plectrurus perroteti, p. 203).

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Plectrurus perrotetii.
  • 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. (Plectrurus perroteti, p. 161).
  • Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Duméril A[-H-A] (1854). Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième.—Première partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents non venimeux [= General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of the Reptiles. Volume 7, Part I. Containing the Natural History of the Nonvenomous Snakes]. Paris: Roret. xvi + 780 pp. (Plectrurus perroteti, new species, pp. 167–168). (in French).
  • 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. (Plectrurus perroteti, p. 71).


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