Taxonomy of the shieldtail snake genus Teretrurus Beddome, 1886 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) with a revised key and remarks on the geographic gaps in the Western Ghats, Peninsular India
Author
Ganesh, S. R.
Chennai Snake Park, Rajbhavan Post, Chennai - 600022, Tamil Nadu, India; Email: snakeranglerr @ gmail. com
Author
Channakeshava Murthy, B. H.
Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghats Regional Station, Kozhikode - 673006, Kerala, India; Email: puttakeshava @ gmail. com
text
Records of the Zoological Survey of India
2022
122
1
25
35
journal article
293563
10.26515/rzsi/v122/i1/2022/154229
59dd71f0-051d-46df-9099-2a8398d5c7fc
2581-8686
10913849
Teretrurus
Beddome, 1886
1886
.
Teretrurus
Beddome,
Acct
.
Earth Snakes Pen.
of
India
&
Ceylon
.
p. 28.
1921.
Brachyophidium
Wall.
J.
Bombay
Nat. Hist. Soc.
,
28
: p. 41.
Type
Species
:
Plectrurus sanguineus
Beddome, 1867
(by subsequent designation;
Beddome, 1886
;
Pyron
et al
., 2016
)
For the synonym,
Brachyophidium rhodogaster
Wall, 1921
(by original description;
Wall, 1921
)
Content
: Four species viz.
Teretrurus sanguineus
(
Beddome, 1867
)
,
T. hewstoni
(
Beddome, 1876
)
,
T. travancoricus
(
Beddome, 1886
)
and
T. rhodogaster
Wall,
1921.
Differential Diagnosis
: A genus of uropeltid snakes characterized by: absence of mental groove (vs. present in
Melanophidium
); presence of a distinct temporal scale (vs. absent in
Plectrurus
,
Pseudoplectrurus
); eye within an ocular scale (vs. eye distinct from surrounding scales in
Platyplectrurus
); has midline contact between nasal scales (vs. absent in most
Rhinophis
and some
Uropeltis
spp.
); 15 midbody scale rows (vs.
17-19 in
most
Rhinophis
and
Uropeltis
spp.
); tail compressed, simple, without a caudal disc (vs. tail rounded, ending in a truncate or convex caudal disc in
Uropeltis
and
Rhinophis
spp.
); tail tipending in a pointed structure, without lateral ridges (vs. tail tip ending in two bicuspid ridges in
Plectrurus
,
Pseudoplectrurus
; tail tip with lateral ridges in
Platyplectrurus
).
Distribution range
: Western Ghats ranges viz. Waynad, Nilgiris, Anaimalai, Palni, Travancore / Agasthyamalai (
Kerala
,
Tamil Nadu
states), southwest
India
(
Wallach
et al
., 2014
; this work).
Figure 2.
Preserved specimens of
Teretrurus
species
:
(a)
T. travancoricus
ZSI
/WGRC/2135-6,
(b)
T. hewstoni
ZSI
/WGRC/3124,
(c)
T. sanguineus
CSPT
/S-10,
(d)
T. rhodogaster
CSPT
/S-14. Photos: S. R. Ganesh.
Figure 3.
Holotype of
Plecturus scabricauda
ZSI
6996 coll. from Anamallays:
(a)
entire view,
(b)
jar label,
(c)
head right view,
(d)
head left view,
(e)
head ventral view,
(f)
tail ventral view. Photos: N.S. Achyuthan.
Figure 4.
Teretrurus hewstoni
: live colouration;
(a)
head lateral view;
(b)
entire dorsal view;
(c)
entire lateral view,
(d)
entire ventral view. Photos: Avrajjal Ghosh.
Figure 6.
Teretrurus travancoricus
: live colouration;
(a)
entire dorsal view;
(b)
entire ventral view. Photos: B.H.C.K. Murthy & K.A. Subramanian.
Figure 6.
Teretrurus rhodogaster
: live colouration;
(a)
entire dorsolateral view; insets – underside of head and tail;
(b)
ventral view of hind body and tail. Photos: S. R. Ganesh.
Revised key to the genus
Teretrurus
(modified from
Smith, 1943
)
I. Supraocular fused with ocular shield; prefrontals long;
Ventrals 131-146; venter uniform, unpatterned orange red ….….….….….….….….….
T. rhodogaster
II. Supraocular separated from ocular shield; prefrontals short;
Ventrals 120-128; venter orange with broad purplish brown blotches ….….….….….….….…...
T. hewstoni
Ventrals 130-136; venter red with prominent black patches….….….….….….….…...…...
T. travancoricus
Ventrals 141-150; venter often uniform red, with a few black spots ….….….….….….….…...…
T. sanguineus