Teretrurus rhodogaster (WALL, 1921)

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Higher Taxa	Uropeltidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Palni Mountain Burrowing Snake
Synonym	Brachyophidium rhodogaster WALL 1921 Teretrurus rhodogaster — SMITH 1943: 70 Teretrurus rhodogaster — WILLIAMS 1959 Brachyophidium rhodogaster — GANS 1966: 9 Brachyophidium rhodogaster — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 129 Teretrurus rhodogaster — SHARMA 2004 Brachyophidium rhodogaster — OLORI & BELL 2012 Brachyophidium rhodogaster — WALLACH et al. 2014: 123 Teretrurus rhodogaster — CYRIAC & KODANDARAMAIAH 2017 Teretrurus rhodogaster — GANESH & MURTHY 2022 Brachyophidium rhodogaster — SZYNDLAR & GEORGALIS 2023
Distribution	India (Shembaganur, Kodaikanal, Palnis, Kerala) Type locality: „Palnai HiIls", S India (probably vicinity of Shembanagur).
Reproduction	ovovivparous
Types	Holotype: BMNH 1921.3.4.13
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (genus): Brachyophidium can be distinguished from all other amniotes by the characters given above for the family, and from other uropeltids by eye in ocular shield, nasals in contact, a temporal, no mental groove, dorsal scales in 15 rows at midbody, a simple, unmodified tail tapering to a single pointed scale, and interchoanal process of parasphenoid absent (see Olori & Bell 2012, Pyron et al. 2016). Additional details (1713 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Type species: Brachyophidium rhodogaster WALL 1921 is the type species of the genus Brachyophidium WALL 1921, now a synonym of Teretrurus.
Etymology	Named after Greek rhodon (a rose, hence red) and gaster (belly), in allusion to the reddish-orange venter of the species.
References	Cyriac, V. P., & Kodandaramaiah, U. 2017. Paleoclimate determines diversification patterns in the fossorial snake family Uropeltidae Cuvier, 1829. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 116(Supplement C), 97–107 - get paper here Ganesh, S. R., & Murthy, B. C. 2022. Taxonomy of the shieldtail snake genus Teretrurus Beddome, 1886 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) with a revised key and remarks on the geographic gaps in the Western Ghats, Peninsular India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 122(1), 25-35 Gans, C. 1966. Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Uropeltidae. Das Tierreich Lfg. 84, 29 pp. 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 Pyron R. A., Ganesh S. R., Sayyed A., Sharma V., Wallach V. & Somaweera R. 2016. A catalogue and systematic overview of the shield-tailed snakes (Serpentes: Uropeltidae). [type catalogue] Zoosystema 38 (4): 453-506 - 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. Szyndlar Z, Georgalis GL 2023. An illustrated atlas of the vertebral morphology of extant non-caenophidian snakes, with special emphasis on the cloacal and caudal portions of the column. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 717-886 - get paper here Wall,F. 1921. A new snake of the family Uropeltidae. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 28: 41-42 - 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. Whitaker, Romulus and Ashok Captain 2004. Snakes of India. Draco Books, 500 pp., reprinted 2007 - get paper here Williams, Ernest E. 1959. The occipito-vertebral joint in the burrowing snakes of the family Uropeltidae. Breviora (106): 1-10 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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