You are here » home advanced search search results Rhinophis mendisi

Rhinophis mendisi GOWER, 2020

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Rhinophis mendisi?

Add your own observation of
Rhinophis mendisi »

We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaUropeltidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mendis’ rhino- phis or Mendis’ shieldtail
Sinhala: Mendisge thudulla
Tamil: Mendisin nilakael pambu 
SynonymRhinophis mendisi GOWER 2020
Rhinophis homolepis — OLORI & BELL 2012
Rhinophis trevelyanus — OLORI & BELL 2012: table S1 
DistributionSW Sri Lanka (near Balangoda)

Type locality: Rosgalla or Rasagalla or Rosafalla, Ceylon based on specimen labels and MCZ catalogue. Most likely the village of Rasagalla (also spelled Rassagala), near (ca. 8 km to the northwest of) Balangoda, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. (6.69° N, 80.64° E; ca. 550 m a.s.l.: data from GoogleEarth). There is an estate by the name of Rasagalla immediately to the West of the village, and the elevational range of this general area is ca. 550–700 m  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype. MCZ 18037 (Fig. 1), adult male, collected by Frank Wall and Rasagalla is the only similar place name on Wall’s (1921) map, on which it lies close to and West of Balangoda. There is no collection date associated with MCZ 18037, but Wall (1868–1950) collected Indian and Sri Lankan snakes while he was in the Indian Medical Service, in which he served from 1894 until retiring to the UK in 1925 (Adler 1989).
Paratypes (n = 4). MCZ 18034 (Fig. 3 in Gower 2020), 18035 (Fig. 4), 18036, and 18038 (Fig. 5); same collection data as for holotype. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (n=14). A Rhinophis restricted to Sri Lanka with 17 dorsal scale rows at midbody, more than 155 and fewer than 180 ventral scales (159–169 in the five types and 161–177 in eight referred specimens), a distinctive colour pattern with more punctate ventral surface and less punctate dorsal surface bearing thin, irregular off-white transverse bars, and a prominent, conical tail shield with small, low, homogenous, ridge-like spines (Gower 2020).


Additional details (4857 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentRhinophis mendisi sp. nov. superficially resembles R. homolepis (Hemprich, 1820) in colour pattern and in its prominent, conical tail shield, but differs from that species in having far fewer ventrals (159–177, n = 13 versus > 195 in the types of R. homolepis and its subjective junior synonym R. gerrardi). 
EtymologyNamed in honour of L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe, in recognition of his substantial contributions to the discovery, documentation and conservation of Sri Lanka’s herpetofauna. For nomenclatural purposes, the species name is a noun in the genitive case. 
References
  • GOWER, DAVID J. 2020. A new species of Rhinophis Hemprich, 1820 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from southwestern Sri Lanka. Zootaxa 4810 (3): 495–510 - get paper here
  • JINS, V.J.; FILIPA L. SAMPAIO, DAVID J. GOWER 2018. A new species of Uropeltis Cuvier, 1829 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from the Anaikatty Hills of the Western Ghats of India. Zootaxa 4415 (3): 401–422 - get paper here
  • Olori JC, Bell CJ 2012. Comparative Skull Morphology of Uropeltid Snakes (Alethinophidia: Uropeltidae) with Special Reference to Disarticulated Elements and Variation. PLoS ONE 7(3): e32450 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Rhinophis&species=mendisi

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator