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Gerrhopilus thurstoni (BOETTGER, 1890)

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Higher TaxaGerrhopilidae, Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Thurston's Worm Snake 
SynonymTyphlops thurstoni BOETTGER 1890
Typhlops thurstoni — BOULENGER 1893: 26
Typhlops thurstoni — WALL 1919: 556
Typhlops walli PROCTER 1924
Typhlops hurstoni BOURRET 1936 (error typographicus)
Typhlops thurstoni — SMITH 1943
Typhlops thurstoni — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 122
Typhlops thurstoni — DAS 2003
Gerrhopilus thurstoni — HEDGES et al. 2014: 27
Gerrhopilus thurstoni — PYRON & WALLACH 2014
Typhlops thurstoni — WALLACH et al. 2014: 773 
DistributionS India (Kerala)

Type locality: “Nilgiri Hills, Brit. Ostindien” [South India].  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MAD = Madras Museum 
DiagnosisDescription: Snout broadly rounded, strongly projecting; nostrils lateral. Rostral broad above, 1/2 to 3/5 as broad as the head, extending to the level of the ocular shields; nasal incompletely divided, the suture passing from the 2nd labial-to just beyond the nostril; ocular 'and preocular shorter than the nasal; eye not distinguishable; ocular shield touching 3rd and 4th labials, not wedged in between them; prefrontal half as broad as the head, in broad contact with the rostral; supraocular twice as broad as long; tail ending in a point: 20 scales round the body, the diameter of which is 50-80 times in the total length; 550-600 transverse rows of scales (Smith 1943: 49).

Coloration: Light brownish or yellowish above, paler below; snout and anal region whitish (Smith 1943: 49). 
CommentHedges et al. 2014 assigned this species tentatively to the family Gerrhopilidae; traditionally it was considered as a member Typhlopidae. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Edgar Thurston (1855-1935), an ethnographer, natural historian, and museologist who qualified as a physician in England (1877). He was Superintendent of the Government Museum, Madras (now Chennai) (1885-1910). 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boettger, O. 1890. Neue Schlange aus Ostindien. Ber. senckenb. naturf. Ges. , Frankfurt am Main, 1890: 297-298 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Bourret, R. 1936. Les Serpents de l'Indochine, vol. 2. Imprimerie Henri Basuyau & Cie, Toulouse.
  • Das, Indraneil 2003. Growth of Knowledge on the Reptiles of India, with an Introduction to Systematics, Taxonomy and Nomenclature. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 100 (2-3): 446-502 - get paper here
  • Hedges, S.B., Marion, A.B., Lipp, K.M., Marin, J. & Vidal, N. 2014. A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata). Caribbean Herpetology 49: 1–61 - get paper here
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Palot, M.J. 2015. A checklist of reptiles of Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(13): 8010–8022 - get paper here
  • Procter, J.B. 1924. Description of a new Typhlops from S. India and notes on Brachyophidium and Platyplectrurus. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (9) 13 : 139-142 - get paper here
  • Pyron, R.A. & Wallach, V. 2014. Systematics of the blindsnakes (Serpentes: Scolecophidia: Typhlopoidea) based on molecular and morphological evidence. Zootaxa 3829 (1): 001–081 - get paper here
  • Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. AKHIL BOOKS, New Delhi, 292 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.
  • Wall,F. 1919. Notes on a collection of Snakes made in the Nilgiri Hills and the adjacent Wynaad. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26: 552-584 - get paper here
 
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