Teretrurus rhodogaster
Creators: name: Ganesh, S. R.
name: Channakeshava Murthy, B. H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Squamata
Uropeltidae
Teretrurus
Teretrurus rhodogaster

description: Teretrurus rhodogaster (Wall, 1921)
(Figure 1, 2, 6)
1921. Brachyophidium rhodogaster Wall, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 28: p. 41
Material examined (n=3): CSPT /S-14a-cone male and two females, from Shenbaganur, Kodaikanal (Palni Hills), Tamil Nadu.
Taxonomic History: Wall (1921) described this species as Brachyophidium rhodogaster based on the holotype from Palni hills, designated as Shenbaganur (10.228˚N 77.499˚E; 1850m asl) in Kodaikanal by Wall (1922) (Pyron et al., 2016). Smith (1943) synonymized the monotypic genus Brachyophidium Wall, 1921 with Teretrurus Beddome, 1886, giving it the combination Teretrurus rhodogaster. Later authors (Whitaker & Captain, 2008; Pyron et al., 2016) challenged this interpretation based on disparate head scalations compared to Teretrurus. But recent phylogenetic study (Cyriac & Kothandaramaiah, 2017) supports the stance of Smith (1943) in considering Brachyophidium as a synonym of Teretrurus.
Differential Diagnosis: A species of Teretrurus endemic to the Palni-Anamalai hill complex, lacking a distinct supraocular scale (vs. possessing in T. sanguineus, T. travancoricus, T. hewstoni).
Description and variation: Measurements in mm: snoutvent length: 159-163; tail length: 13.5-19; head length: 6.7-8.2; head width: 5-5.5; body width 5.5-7; eye diameter: 1; eye-snout distance: 2-2.2; inter-orbital distance: 3.3-4; inter-narial distance: 0.8-1. Habitus: Small-bodied, trunk cylindrical to slightly compressed, especially near tail; body fairly slender; head not distinct from neck, as wide as midbody; snout fairly pointed to slightly rounded in profile; tail small, abruptly ending in a short pointed spur. Scalation: scales smooth, cycloid, without apical pits; nasal scales entire, pierced by nostrils; nasals in broad midline contact, not separated by rostrum; prefrontal abnormally elongate and much produced, as large as frontal, but a bit smaller than parietal; head scales lacking pre-, post-oculars; supraocular not discernable, at least partially fused with ocular scale; temporal present; mental groove absent; dorsal scales in 13:15:15 rows, with 13-->15 at 38-40th ventral scales; supralabials 4/4; infralabials 4/5; ventrals 142-146; subcaudals 7-10 pairs; terminal caudal scales keeled, with a single sharp projection in the end. Colouration: dorsum purplish or dark cherry red to maroon coloured, with orange crescent-shaped collar mark and bright washes along the sides; venter uniform and unpatterned bright orange to pink (turning pale off-white in preservative); subcaudals orange medially, border on both sides by purplish black; eye black.
Distribution and Natural History: This species is known only from the Palni hills (Wall, 1921, 1922, 1923) and its vicinity including Vandaravu-Kodaikanal-Perumal Malai-Pandri Malai massifs. Rajendran (1985) also collected this species from the type locality–Shenbaganur in Kodaikanal. This species inhabits high elevations above 1700 m asl, in dense montane rainforest and grassland habitats. During June 2014 and Jan 2015, we located four adults of this species in carrot, beetroot and potato plantations in Kodaikanal and also within natural forests under fallen logs strewn at the base of a thicket of Tree Ferns in Tiger Shola. On one occasion a pair (adult male and female) in accompaniment was sighted syntopic with Platyplectrurus madurensis and Uropeltis pulneyensis (Wall, 1923; Rajendran, 1985).
description: Published as part of Ganesh, S. R. & Channakeshava Murthy, B. H., 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, pp. 25-35 in Records of the Zoological Survey of India 122 (1) on pages 31-32, DOI: 10.26515/rzsi/v122/i1/2022/154229, http://zenodo.org/record/10913849