Beddome's coral snake explained

Beddome's coral snake (Calliophis beddomei) is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to hills of peninsular India.

Etymology

C. beddomei is named after Richard Henry Beddome (1830-1911), British army officer and naturalist.^[1]

Geographic range and habitat

Beddome's coral snake is found in semi-evergreen and tropical dry deciduous hills in the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats of India, at altitudes of 550–. Being first described from the Shevaroy Hills or Yercaud, this species was later known from other parts of the Western Ghats. It is only known from three localities, Koppa, Nilgiri Mountains, and Shevaroy.

Description

C. beddomei may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 50cm (20inches), with a tail length of 6.5cm (02.6inches).^[2]

Behavior

C. beddomei is terrestrial.

Reproduction

C. beddomei is oviparous.

Threats and conservation

C. beddomei is not considered to be used for commercial use and is not known from any protected areas. However, it is listed in Schedule IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Further reading

• Ganesh, S.R.

Ramanujam, Eric (2014). "Rediscovery of Beddome’s Coralsnake Calliophis beddomei Smith, 1943 from the type locality". Journal of Threatened Taxa 6 (3): 5580–5582.

• Sharma, R.C. (2003). Handbook: Indian Snakes. Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India. 292 pp. .
• Slowinski, Joseph B.

Boundy, Jeff; Lawson, Robin (2001). "The phylogenetic relationships of Asian coral snakes (Elapidae: Calliophis and Maticora) based on morphological and molecular characters". Herpetologica 57 (2): 233-245.

• Smith, Malcolm Arthur (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). xxii + 583 pp. (Callophis [sic] beddomei, new species, p. 423).

Notes and References

1. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Calliophis beddomei, p. 21).
2. [Malcolm Arthur Smith|Smith MA]