Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Vertebrata Subclass Diapsida Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Class Reptilia Infraclass Lepidosauromorpha | |
Similar Aspidura trachyprocta, Aspidura, Buff striped keelback, Amphiesma | ||
Aspidura copei, commonly known as Cope's rough-sided snake or කලු මැඩිල්ලා (kalu medilla) in Sinhalese, is a colubrid species endemic to Sri Lanka.
Contents
Etymology
The specific name, copei, is in honor of American herpetologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.
Geographic range
A. copei is a found in the mountains of central Sri Lanka. Localities recorded are Dimbulla, Dickoya, Hopewell estate of Balangoda, Avissawella, and Pundaluoya.
Description
The head is indistinct from the neck, and the body is cylindrical. The dorsum is brown, with a brownish-olive mid-dorsal band, 2-3 scales wide, flanked on each side by a series of 23-26 dark blotches. The flanks have dark markings occupying 2-4 scales that reach the ventrals. The forehead is olive-brown, and the lips are light yellow, edged with black. A narrow dark band descends diagonally from the temporals, past the angle of mouth, to the edge of the ventrals. The venter is mottled green, with a series of solid blotches along the ventral midline.
Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of 63.5 cm (2 feet, 1 inch).
Behaviour
A. copei is a burrowing snake.
Scalation
Dorsal scales in 17 rows at midbody. Preoculars absent. 2 Postoculars in contact with the parietal. Ventrals 123-137. Subcaudals 15-35.
Reproduction
Generally unknown. Only one female with 21 "remarkably round" eggs found.