Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Correspondence
Published: 2019-02-26
Page range: 592–600
Abstract views: 67
PDF downloaded: 2

Further notes on the Sri Lankan uropeltid snakes Rhinophis saffragamus (Kelaart, 1853) and Uropeltis ruhunae Deraniyagala, 1954

Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC USA
CSIRO Land and Water, Floreat WA Australia
Reptilia

Abstract

A recent paper dealing with the systematics of Uropeltidae (Pyron et al. 2016) made several taxonomic changes affecting Sri Lankan species in the genera Platyplectrurus Günther, 1868; Pseudotyphlops Schlegel, 1839; Rhinophis Hemprich, 1820; and Uropeltis Cuvier, 1829. Space precluded a full discussion of those changes, for which there was a wealth of additional photographs, data, and references. Here, we expand on those alterations and provide further justification with reference to the ICZN (1999) and additional questions for future research.

 

References

  1. Beddome, R.H. (1877) Descriptions of three new snakes of the family Uropeltidae from southern India. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 45, 167–168.

    Beddome, R.H. (1878) Descriptions of new Uropeltidae from Southern India, with remarks on some previously‐described species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 46, 154–155.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1878.tb07946.x

    Beddome, R.H. (1886) An account of the earth-snakes of the peninsula of India and Ceylon. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 17, 3–33.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222938609460106

    Boulenger, G.A. (1893) Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., containing the families Typhlopidae, Glauconiidae, Boidae, Ilysiidae, Uropeltidae, Xenopeltidae and Colubridae aglyphae, part. British Museum (Natural History), London, 448 pp.

    Cadle, J.E., Dessauer, H.C., Gans, C. & Gartside, D.F. (1990) Phylogenetic relationships and molecular evolution in uropeltid snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae): allozymes and albumin immunology. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 40, 293–320.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1990.tb00541.x

    Cuvier, G. (1829) Le Règne animal distribué d’apres son organisation, pour servir de base à l’histoire naturelle des animaux et d’introduction à l’anatomie comparée. Tome II. Nouvelle édition, revue et augmentée. Deterville, Paris, 406 pp.

    De Silva, P.H.D.H. (1980) Snake fauna of Sri Lanka: with special reference to skull, dentition, and venom in snakes. National Museums of Sri Lanka, Colombo, 472 pp.

    Deraniyagala, P. (1954) Two new snakes from Ceylon. Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Session of the Ceylon Association for the Advancement of Science (25th-27th Nov. 1954), 1, 27–28 [24].

    Duméril, A.M.C., Bibron, G. & Duméril, A.H.A. (1854) Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles, Vol. 7 (partie 1), Paris, xvi + 780.

    Fitzinger, L. (1843) Systema reptilium, Fasciculus primus, Amblyglossae. Braumüller et Seidel Bibliopolas, Vindobonae, 106 pp.

    Gans, C. (1966) Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien: Uropeltidae. Das Tierreich, 84, 1–29.

    Günther, A. (1868) Sixth account of new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Journal of Natural History, 1, 413–429.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936808695725

    Günther, A. (1864) The Reptiles of British India. Ray Society, London, 452 pp.

    Hemprich, W. (1820) Grundriss der Naturgeschichte für höhere Lehranstalten. August Rücker, Berlin, 432 pp.

    International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1999) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th Ed. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History Museum, London, 306 pp.

    Kelaart, E.F. (1853) Description of new or little-known species of reptiles collected in Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 22, 102–116.

    McDiarmid, R.W., Campbell J.A. & Touré, T. (1999) Snake species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Herpetologists’ League, Washington, 511 pp.

    Müller, J. (1832) Beiträge zur Anatomie und Naturgeschichte der Amphibien. Zeitschrift für Physiologie, 4, 190–275.

    Peters, W.C.H. (1861) De serpentum familia Uropeltaceorum. G. Reimer, Berlin, 22 pp.

    Pyron, R.A., Kandambi, H.D., Hendry, C.R., Pushpamal, V., Burbrink, F.T. & Somaweera, R. (2013) Genus-level phylogeny of snakes reveals the origins of species richness in Sri Lanka. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 66, 969–978.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.12.004

    Pyron, R.A., Ganesh, S.R., Sayyed, A., Sharma, V., Wallach, V. & Somaweera, R. (2016) A catalogue and systematic overview of the shield-tailed snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae). Zoosystema, 38, 453–506.

    https://doi.org/10.5252/z2016n4a2

    Schlegel, H. (1839) in Schlegel, H. (1837-1843) Abbildungen neuer oder unvollständig bekannter Amphibien, nach der Natur oder dem Leben entworfen, herausgegeben und mit einem erläuternden Texte begleit. Verlag von Arnz & Comp., Düsseldorf, 141 pp.

    Schneider, J.G. (1801) Historiae amphibiorum naturalis et literariae, Fasciculus secundus, continens Crocodilos, Scincos, Chamaesauras, Boas, Pseudoboas, Elapes, Angues, Amphisbaenas et Caecilias. Sumtibus Friederici Frommann, Jenae, 364 pp.

    Smith, M.A. (1943) The fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the Indo-Chinese sub-region, Reptilia and Amphibia, Vol. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor & Francis, London, 583 pp.

    Taylor, E.H. (1953) A report on a collection of Ceylonese serpents. The University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 35, 1615–1624.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.26734

    Tennent, J.E. (1861) Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon: with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, etc. Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, London, 500 pp.

    Theobald, W. (1876) Descriptive catalogue of the reptiles of British India. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 238 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.54001

    Wagler, J. (1830) Natürliches System der Amphibien, mit vorangehender Classification der Säugthiere und Vogel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. J. G. Cotta, München, Stuttgart, and Tübingen, vi + 354 pp.

    Wall, F. (1921) Ophidia taprobanica or the snakes of Ceylon. H. R. Cottle, Colombo, 582 pp.

    Wallach, V., Williams, K.L. & Boundy, J. (2014) Snakes of the world: a catalogue of living and extinct species. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1209 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.1201/b16901