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Lytorhynchus paradoxus (GÜNTHER, 1875)

IUCN Red List - Lytorhynchus paradoxus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sindh Awl-headed Snake, Sind Longnose Sand Snake 
SynonymAcontiophis paradoxa GÜNTHER 1875: 232
Acontiophis paradoxa — MURRAY 1884: 110
Lytorhynchus paradoxus — BOULENGER 1890
Lytorhynchus paradoxus — BOULENGER 1893: 416
Lytorhynchus monticornis WERNER 1926: 243
Lytorhynchus paradoxus — SMITH 1943: 191
Lytorhynchus paradoxa — DAS 1996: 57
Lytorhynchus paradoxus — WHITAKER & CAPTAIN 2004
Lytorhynchus paradoxus — SINDACO et al. 2013: 119
Lytorhynchus paradoxus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 416
Lytorhynchus paradoxus — MORADI et al. 2023 
DistributionE Pakistan (along border to India), India (Rajasthan)

Type locality: unknown. Günther says it’s from “Jerdon's collection. It is rather shrivelled; and unfortunately no record as regards the locality where it was found was placed on the
bottle. He obtained it probably within the Himalayan region or in Khassya.”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: BMNH 1946.1.14.75 (and possibly additional specimens). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Leviton 1970: 270.


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CommentDistribution: Note that Bide et al. (2004) found only one specimen in Rajasthan, although additional specimens appear to have been found in the same (or at least a single locality) in Rajasthan fide iNaturalist. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013. 
EtymologyNamed after the Greek “paradoxus” (= unusual, strange), possibly for the unknown origin or it’s unusual morphology, which is why Günther erected a new genus. Günther does not comment on the name. 
References
  • Agarwal, Ishan and Achyuthan Iyengar 2013. Further records of the Sindh Awl-headed Snake, Lytorhynchus paradoxus (Günther, 1875), from India with notes on its habitat and natural history. Russ. J. Herpetol. 20 (3): 165-170 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Basri, M. and Rehan, M. 2025. Ecological Observations and New Distribution Records of Lytorhynchus paradoxus (Günther, 1875): Expanding Its Range Beyond the Desert Regions of Punjab, Pakistan. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics, 21(1), 101–110 - get paper here
  • Bhide, K., A. Captain & D. Khandal 2004. First record of Lytorhynchus paradoxus (Günther, 1875) from the Republic of India, with notes on its distribution. Hamadryad 28 (1&2): 123-127 - 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
  • 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
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
  • Günther,A. 1875. Second report on collections of Indian Reptiles obtained bv the British Museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1875: 224-234 - get paper here
  • Leviton A E 1977. A new lytorhynchid snake. JOURNAL OF THE SAUDI ARABIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY (No. 19): 16-25
  • Moradi, N., Shafiei Bafti, S., Sehhatisabet, M. E., Zadhoush, B. and Rastegar-Pouyani, E. 2023. Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Lytorhynchus Peters, 1863 (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae) with special reference to the Iranian taxa. Journal of Animal Diversity, 5 (4): 15–31 - get paper here
  • Murray, J. A. 1884. Additions to the reptilian fauna of Sind. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5) 14: 106—111. - get paper here
  • Sindaco, R.; Alberto Venchi & Cristina Grieco 2013. The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic, Volume 2: Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, with an Update to Volume 1. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 543 pp. - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Torki, Farhang 2017. Description of a new species of Lytorhynchus (Squamata: Colubridae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 63 (2): 109, DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2017.1299319 - 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.
  • Werner, F. 1927. Neue oder wenig bekannte Schlangen aus dem Wiener naturhistorischen Staatsmuseum (III. Teil). Sitzungsb. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math. Naturwiss. Kl. 143 [135?]: 243-257 [1926] - get paper here
  • Whitaker, Romulus and Ashok Captain 2004. Snakes of India. Draco Books, 500 pp., reprinted 2007 - get paper here
  • Yati, Kachhawa; Kachhawa Dimple, Kumawat Kumar Rakesh, K.K. Sharma & Sharma Vivek 2016. A sighting of the Sind Awl-headed Snake Lytorhynchus paradoxus (Günther, 1875) from western Rajasthan: Habitat preferences. Reptile RAP (18): 23–24 - get paper here
 
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