Aspidura Explained

Aspidura is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Natricinae of the Family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to island of Sri Lanka. Member species are commonly known as rough-sided snakes, except for A. ceylonensis, which is commonly known as the black-spined snake and was formerly in the genus Haplocercus.^[1] The genus Aspidura comprises nine species, with the latest having been discovered in 2019.^[2]

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid.^[1]

• Aspidura brachyorrhos – Boie's rough-sided snake
• Aspidura ceylonensis – black-spined snake
• Aspidura copei – Cope's rough-sided snake
• Aspidura deraniyagalae – Deraniyagala's rough-sided snake
• Aspidura desilvai – De Silva's rough-sided snake
• Aspidura drummondhayi – Drummond-Hay's rough-sided snake
• Aspidura guentheri – Günther's rough-sided snake
• Aspidura ravanai – Ravana's rough-sided snake
• Aspidura trachyprocta – common rough-sided snake

Further reading

• Wagler JG (1830). Natürliches System der Amphibien, mit vorangehender Classification der Säugthiere und Vögel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. + one plate. (in German and Latin). (Aspidura, new genus, p. 191).

Notes and References

1. www.reptile-database.org.
2. Web site: A New Species of Aspidura Wagler, 1830 (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) from Sri Pada Sanctuary (Peak Wilderness), Sri Lanka . Novataxa Blogspot. 1 November 2017.