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Psammophis leithii GÜNTHER, 1869

IUCN Red List - Psammophis leithii - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPsammophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Pakistani Ribbon snake, Pakistan Sand Racer 
SynonymPsammophis leithii GÜNTHER 1869: 505
? Psammophis Leithii — BOULENGER 1887: 408
Psammophis leithii — SMITH 1943: 366
Psammophis leithii — DAS 1996: 58
Psammophis leithii — MURTHY 2010
Taphrometopon leithii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 695 
DistributionPakistan, Afghanistan (LEVITON 1959: 461), western India (Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu, Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: BMNH 1946.1.2.82 (and possibly additional specimens). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Body slender, tail long with divided subcaudals; eye large with round pupil; scale rows 17 at midbody, smooth; ventrals 167 – 187; subcaudals 98 – 109; anal scale not divided; carnivorous. (Baig et al. 2008)


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CommentHabitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Andrew H. Leith, a physician employed in Bombay as Sanitary Commissioner. 
References
  • Adil, Saba; Shermeen Ijaz, Hira Aslam, Rimsha Kanwal and Sehrish Afsheen 2020. Diversity of amphibians and reptiles in Daphar Forest Sanctuary, district Mandi Bahauddin, Pakistan. Journal of Wildlife and Ecology 4(1):15-26
  • Baig, KJ, Masroor, R., and Arshad, M. 2008. Biodiversity and ecology of the herpetofauna of Cholistan Desert, Pakistan. Russ. J. Herpetol. 15 (3): 193-205 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1887. A list of the reptiles and batrachians obtained near Muscat, Arabia, and presented to the British Museum by Surgeon-Major A.S.G. Jayakar. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 20: 407-408 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. - get paper here
  • CHEN, M., LIU, J., CAI, B., LI, J., WU, N., & GUO, X. 2021. A new species of Psammophis (Serpentes: Psammophiidae) from the Turpan Basin in northwest China. Zootaxa 4974 (1): 116-134 - get paper here
  • Constable, JOHN D. 1949. Reptiles from the Indian Peninsula in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 103: 59-160. - get paper here
  • Faiz, A. H., Bagaturov, M. F., Hassan, M. u., Tariq, G., Malik, I. U., & Faiz, L. Z. 2018. Distribution of Reptiles in Tolipir National Park, Pakistan. Journal of Bioresource Management, 5 (2). - get paper here
  • Günther,A. 1869. Report on two collections of Indian reptiles. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1869: 500-507 - get paper here
  • HAIDER, JIBRAN; INAYATULLAH MALIK AND SABIHA SHAMIM 2019. WILDLIFE SURVEY OF NATIONAL PARKS TO ASSESS REPTILIAN BIODIVERSITY, AJK. J Biores Manag. 6 (4): 8-18 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Ingle, Mukesh and Anil Sarsavan 2013. First record of Leith’s Sand Snake (Psammophis leithii, Gunther, 1869) from Sheopur district, Madhya Pradesh, India. International Journal of Environment & Animal Conservation 2 (1): 1-4
  • Jangid, Ashish Kumar; Ravi Kumar Sharma and Abhijit Das 2021. Annotated checklist with distribution summary of Snakes of Jawai Community Conservation Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Journal of Animal Diversity 3 (4): 1-13 - get paper here
  • Khan, M.S. 2002. Die Schlangen Pakistans [English edition as “A Guide to the snakes of Pakistan”]. Edition Chimaira (Frankfurt am Main), 265 pp. [review in HR 34: 400, Russ J Herp 12: 79] - get paper here
  • Kral, B. 1969. Notes on the herpetofauna of certain provinces of Afghanistan. Zoologiske Listy 18, 55-66.
  • Leviton, A.E. 1959. Systematics and Zoogeography of Philippine Snakes. Unpublished PhD Thesis.
  • Maheta, J., Thakor, R., Shankhala, P., Prajapati, D., Zala, A., Bharavad, L., ... & Patel, S. 2023. Updated checklist of snakes with the first record of Spalerosophis arenarius in Gujarat and range extensions of five fpecies of snakes in the northern region of Gujarat, India. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18403 - get paper here
  • Murthy, T.S.N. 2010. The reptile fauna of India. B.R. Publishing, New Delhi, 332 pp.
  • Nikolsky, A. M. 1897. Les reptiles, amphibiens et poissons recueillis (part.) Mr. N. Zaroudny dans la Perse orientale [in Russian]. Annuaire Musée Zoologique de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St.-Pétersbourg 2: 306-348 - get paper here
  • Patel, Harshil; and Raju Vyas 2019. Reptiles of Gujarat, India: Updated Checklist, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Herpetology Notes 12: 765-777 - get paper here
  • Patel, Harshil; Raju Vyas, Vaibhav Naik, Bhautik Dudhatra & Shantilal K. Tank 2018. Herpetofauna of the Northern Western Ghats of Gujarat, India. Zoology and Ecology, DOI: 10.1080/21658005.2018.1499237 - get paper here
  • Sahi D.N., Koul S. 2020. Annotated List of Amphibians and Reptiles of Jammu and Kashmir State. In: Dar G. & Khuroo A. (eds) Biodiversity of the Himalaya: Jammu and Kashmir State. Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation, vol 18. Springer, Singapore - get paper here
  • Saikia, U.; Sharma, D.K. & Sharma, R.M. 2007. Checklist of the Reptilian fauna of Himachal Pradesh, India. Reptile Rap (8): 6-9 - get paper here
  • Salunkhe, Rajendra Vishnu 2023. Snakes of Indapur: Diversity and Awareness. Bhumi Publishing, ISBN: 978-93-88901-31-4 - get paper here
  • Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. AKHIL BOOKS, New Delhi, 292 pp.
  • Singh, J.; Dutta S.K., Singh H 2021. Herpetofauna of Punjab: The Field Guide. New Era Book Agency, Chandigarh, 82 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. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor and Francis, London. 583 pp.
  • Thakur, M., Parmar, D. S., & Kaiser, H. 2025. Rescue records of Leith’s Sandsnake, Psammophis leithii Günther, 1869, from Surat, Gujarat, India with some additional insights on pholidosis and natural history. Herpetology Notes, 18, 169-173
  • Vyas, Raju 2007. Present conservation scenario of reptile fauna in Gujarat State, India. Indian Forester, Oct 2007: 1381-1394 - get paper here
  • Wall, F. 1907. Notes on Snakes collected in Fyzabad. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 101-129 - get paper here
  • Wall, F. 1907. Extension of the Habitat of the Sand Snake (Psammophis leithii). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 203 - get paper here
  • Wall, F. 1911. Remarks on a snake collection in the Quetta museum. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 20: 1033-1042 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
 
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