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Melanophidium bilineatum BEDDOME, 1870

IUCN Red List - Melanophidium bilineatum - Vulnerable, VU
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Higher TaxaUropeltidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Two-lined Black Earth Snake 
SynonymMelanophidium bilineatum BEDDOME 1870
Melanophidium bilineatum — BEDDOME 1886: 30
Melanophidium bilineatum — BOULENGER 1893: 164
Melanophidium bilineatum — SMITH 1943: 66
Melanophidium bilineatum — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 130
Melanophidium bilineatum — DAS 2003
Melanophidium bilineatum — WALLACH et al. 2014: 436 
DistributionIndia (Kerala)

Type locality: „near the summit of the Peria peak in the Wynaad, elevation 5,000 feet, and also at a similar elevation on the Tirrhioot peak” [ = west of Manatoddy, fide SMITH 1943]  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 72.1.2.5 (= BMNH 1946.1.15.75; Fig. 8) from Peria peak, Wynad. Paralectotype: MNHN-RA (18)95.111, designated by Gower et al. 2016.
Syntypes: BMNH 72.1.2.5 (= 1946.1.15.75); M. H. N. P. No. 95. 111. 
DiagnosisDescription: Similar to punctatum, but the eye smaller, its diameter one-fourth the length of the ocular shield, and the ventrals a little broader, twice as broad as the adjaeent scales. V. 188- 200; C. 15-17. Tail as in the young of punctatum (Smith 1943: 66).

Coloration: iridescent black above and below; the two colours separated by a broad, yellow stripe along scale-row 2 and the adjacent halves of rows 1 and 3; it may or may not have a series of small black dots (Smith 1943: 67). 
CommentAfter GANS 1969, this species is known from the three types only. 
References
  • Beddome, R. H. 1870. Descriptions of new reptiles from the Madras Presidency. Madras Monthly J. Med. Sci., 2: 169-176 [Reprint.: J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Sci., London, 1 (10): 327-334, 1940]
  • Beddome, R.H. 1886. An account of the earth snakes of the Peninsula of India and Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 17: 3-33. - 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
  • 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
  • GOWER, DAVID J.; VARAD GIRI, ASHOK CAPTAIN, MARK WILKINSON 2016. A reassessment of Melanophidium Günther, 1864 (Squamata: Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from the Western Ghats of peninsular India, with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 4085 (4): 481–503 - 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
  • 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.
  • 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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