Uropeltidae

Order Squamata
Suborder Serpentes (Ophidia) - snakes
Infraorder Henophidia (Boidea)

Family Uropeltidae (Shield-tail Snakes)

Appearance: Uropeltids have no hindlimb vestiges and no eye-covering spectacles. Their name "shield-tailed snakes" is derived from the greek words ura = tail and pelte = shield, indicating the presence of a large keratinous shield at the tip of their tail.

Distribution: Southern India and Sri Lanka.

Habitat: Soil. Uropeltids are burrowing snakes and their anatomy is highly adapted to that lifestyle.

Relationships: Previously, the mainly Indonesian genera Anomochilus and Cylindrophis have been assigned to the subfamily Cylindrophiinae of the family Uropeltidae. Recently they have been assigned family status (Cundall et al. 1993).

List of genera:

Click on genus to get a list of species. Use the Search form for more sophisticated searches (HELP on Search).

References:

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.
Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 40 (3): 293-320

Cundall, D., Wallach, V. & Rossman, D. A., (1993)
The systematic relationships of the snake genus Anomochilus
Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 109: 275-299.

Rajendran-M-V (1977)
A survey of uropeltid snakes.
J. Madurai Kamaraj Univ. Ser. B Sciences 6 (1): 68-73

Welch,K.R.G. (1994)
Snakes of the World - A Checklist. 2. Boas, Pythons, Shield-tails and Worm Snakes.
R & A Research and Information Ltd and KCM Books.

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Created: 6 Feb 1996 / Last changed: 1 Nov. 2001