Aspidura guentheri

Aspidura guentheri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Aspidura
Species:	A. guentheri
Binomial name
Aspidura guentheri Ferguson, 1876

Aspidura guentheri, commonly known as Günther's rough-sided snake^[1] or කුඩා මැඩිල්ලා (kuda medilla) in Sinhala, is a species of colubrid snake endemic to Sri Lanka. It is the smallest member of the genus Aspidura.

Etymology

The specific name, guentheri, is in honor of German-born British herpetologist Albert Günther.^[1][2]

Geographic range

A. guentheri is a burrowing snake restricted to the lowlands of Sri Lanka. Localities recorded include Ratnapura, Deniyaya, Yapitikanda, Kandilpana, Kosgama, Kalutara, and Balangoda at elevations of 100–500 m (330–1,640 ft).

Description

Head indistinct from neck, body cylindrical. Dorsum brown, mottled with dark brown. Forehead dark. A pale neck band present. Vertebral and lateral rows of dark spots. Venter light brown.

Scalation

Midbody dorsal scale rows 17. Preoculars present. A single postocular in contact with parietal. Ventrals 103-122. Subcaudals 18-29.

Ecology

Diet comprises mainly earthworms.

Reproduction

Clutches of 1 to 3 eggs are laid.

References

1. "Aspidura guentheri FERGUSON 1876". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
2. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Aspidura guentheri, pp. 110-111).

Further reading

• Boulenger GA. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Aspidura guentheri, p. 290).
• Boulenger GA. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Aspidura guentheri, p. 312 + Plate XX, figure 3).
• Ferguson W. 1876. "Description of a New Snake of the Genus Aspidura ". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1876: 819-820 (Aspidura guentheri, new species).
• 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. (Aspidura guentheri, p. 338).
• Wall F. 1921. Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo, Ceylon [Sri Lanka]: Colombo Museum. (H.R. Cottle, Government Printer). xxii + 581 pp. (Aspidura guentheri, pp. 208–209).

External links

• http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Aspidura&species=guentheri
• http://www.wildreach.com/reptile/Serpentes/Aspidura%20Guentheri.php
• http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/Aspidura_guentheri
• http://eol.org/pages/795706/overview
• http://www.biologybrowser.org/node/1230757
• http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=700774
• http://www.gbif.org/species/5223306