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Aspidura copei

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aspidura copei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Aspidura
Species:
A. copei
Binomial name
Aspidura copei
Synonyms[2]
  • Aspidura copii
    Günther, 1864
  • Aspidura copei
    Wall, 1921
  • Aspidura copii
    M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Aspidura copei
    Das, 1996
  • Aspidura copii
    Wallach et al., 2014

Aspidura copei, commonly known as Cope's rough-sided snake or කලු මැඩිල්ලා (kalu medilla) in Sinhalese, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Etymology

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The specific name, copei, is in honor of American herpetologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.[3]

Geographic range

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A. copei is a found in the mountains of central Sri Lanka. Localities recorded are Dimbulla, Dickoya, Hopewell estate of Balangoda, Avissawella, and Pundaluoya.

Description

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The head of A. copei is indistinct from the neck, and the body is cylindrical. The dorsum is brown, with a brownish-olive mid-dorsal band, 2-3 scales wide, flanked on each side by a series of 23-26 dark blotches. The flanks have dark markings occupying 2-4 scales that reach the ventrals. The forehead is olive-brown, and the lips are light yellow, edged with black. A narrow dark band descends diagonally from the temporals, past the angle of mouth, to the edge of the ventrals. The venter is mottled green, with a series of solid blotches along the ventral mid-line.

Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of 63.5 centimetres (2 feet 1.0 inch).[4]

Behaviour

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A. copei is a burrowing snake.

Scalation

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In A. copei the dorsal scales are in 17 rows at midbody. Preoculars are absent. There are 2 postoculars in contact with the parietal. The ventrals number 123-137; and the subcaudals number 15-35.

Reproduction

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Details of the reproduction of A. copei are generally unknown. Only one female with 21 "remarkably round" eggs was found.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Wickramasinghe, L.J.M. (2021). "Aspidura copei ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T176348A123302471. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T176348A123302471.en. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. ^ Species Aspidura copei at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011) The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Aspidura copii, pp. 58-59).
  4. ^ a b Wall 1921.

Further reading

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  • Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Aspidura copii, pp. 311–312).
  • Günther ACLG (1864). The Reptiles of British India. London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (Aspidura copii, new species, p. 203 + Plate XVIII, figure E).
  • Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia, Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Aspidura copii, pp. 336–337).
  • Wall F (1921). Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo, Ceylon [Sri Lanka]: Colombo Museum. (H.R. Cottle, Government Printer). xxii + 581 pp. (Aspidura copei, pp. 207–208).
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