Added 27 October 2024.
Boulenger gives the following characteristics for the genus: eye in the ocular shield; no supraocular, no temporal shields. No mental groove. Tail obliquely truncated, ending in a large, circular or oval, flat shield.
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QUICK INDEX |
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R. blythii, Blyth's Earth Snake |
R. dinarzardae, Dinarzardae's Shieldtail |
R. dorsimaculatus, Polka-Dot Earth Snake |
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R. drummondhayi, Drummond-Hay's Earth Snake |
R. erangaviraji, Eranga Viraj's Shield |
R. fergusonianus, Cardamom Hills Earth Snake |
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R. goweri, Gower's Shieldtail |
R. gunasekarai, Gunasekarai's Shieldtail |
R. homolepis, Trevelyan's Earth Snake |
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R. lineatus, Striped Rhinophis |
R. martin, Martin's Shieldtail |
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R. melanogaster, Gray's Earth Snake |
R. melanoleucus, Gray's Earth Snake |
R. mendisi, Mendis' Shieldtail |
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R. oxyrhynchus, Schneider's Earth Snake |
R. philippinus, Peter's Philippine Earth Snake |
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R. punctatus, Müller's Earth Snake |
R. roshanpererai, Roshan Pererai's Shieldtail |
R. saffragamus, Large Shieldtail Snake |
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R. sanguineus, Salty Earth Snake |
R. travancoricus, Tamil Nadu Earth Snake, Travancore Shieldtail |
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R. zigzag, Zigzag Rhinophis |
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Scientific Name |
Common Name |
Distribution |
Size |
Notes |
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Rhinophis |
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Blyth's Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
TL 37 cm |
Head details: snout acutely pointed ; rostral very slightly compressed, about one third the length of the shielded part of the head; frontal longer than broad. Diameter of body: 22-32 times in the total length. Scalation details: 17 scales round the middle of the body, 19 behind the head. Ventrals: only a little larger than the contiguous scales, 148-162. Subcaudals: 4-7. Tail: caudal disk one half or three fifths the length of the shielded part of the head ; some of the distal caudal scales with faint traces of keels. Coloration: dark brown; sides with vertical yellow spots or a festooned or zigzag band along the anterior half of the body; a yellow ring round the base of the tail. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Dinarzardae's Shieldtail |
Sri Lanka |
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Polka-Dot Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
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Drummond-Hay's Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
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Eranga Viraj's Shield |
Sri Lanka |
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Cardamom Hills Earth Snake |
S India |
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Gower's Shieldtail |
S India |
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Gunasekarai's Shieldtail |
Sri Lanka |
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Trevelyan's Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
TL 27.5 cm |
Head details: snout acutely pointed; rostral obtusely keeled above, about two fifths the length of the shielded part of the head; frontal usually longer than broad. Diameter of body: 26-30 times in the total length. Scalation details: 17 scales round the middle of the body, 19 behind the head. Ventrals: only a little larger than the contiguous scales, 190-204. Subcaudals: 3-6. Tail: caudal disk as long as the shielded part of the head. Coloration: blackish brown above; yellow beneath, each scale with a black spot; a series of triangular yellow spots along each side of the body. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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India |
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Striped Rhinophis |
Sri Lanka |
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Martin's Shieldtail |
Sri Lanka |
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Gray's Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
TL 27 cm |
Head details: snout pointed; rostral about one third the length of the shielded part of the head, the portion visible from above longer than its distance from the frontal, entirely separating the nasals; frontal longer than broad. Eye: small, not half the length of the ocular. Diameter of body: 22 to 31 times in the total length. Scalation details: scales in 17 rows round the middle of the body, 19 behind the head. Ventrals: but little larger tlian the contiguous scales, 141-166. Subcaudals: 6-10. Tail: round or slightly compressed, the terminal scute with two small spines; caudal scales with very faint keels. Coloration: dark brown, with yellow spots more or less confluent into a lateral band. In three youug specimens in the collection (k-m) the colour is yellow, each scale of the upper surface, chin, and tail with a dark brown spot. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Gray's Earth Snake |
India |
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Mendis' Shieldtail |
Sri Lanka |
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Schneider's Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
TL 43 cm |
Head details: snout, acutely pointed; rostral compressed, keeled above, half as long as the shielded part of the head; frontal not longer than broad. Diameter of body: 37-39 times in the total length. Scalation details: 17-19 scales round the middle of the body, 19-21 behind the head. Ventrals: only a little larger than the contiguous scales, 217-227. Subcaudals: 5-7. Tail: caudal disk about as long as the shielded part of the head. Coloration: uniform brown, each scale with a lighter margin ; some yellow markings about the tail. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Peter's Philippine Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
TL 27 cm |
Head details: snout acutely pointed ; rostral obtusely keeled above, about two fifths the length of the shielded part of the head ; frontal usually longer than broad. Diameter of body: 24-34 times in the total length. Scalation details: 17 scales round the middle of the body, 19 behind the head. Ventrals: only a little larger than the contiguous scales, 153-172. Subcaudals: 3-6. Tail: caudal disk about as long as the shielded part of the head. Coloration: uniform brown, each scale with a lighter margin; sometimes a yellowish, blotch near the head or on the anal region. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Sri Lanka |
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Müller's Earth Snake |
Sri Lanka |
TL 39 cm |
Very closely allied to R. oxyrhynchus; differs in the more slender body, the diameter of which is 47-49 times in the total length, with more numerous ventrals (236-246), and in coloration. Yellowish, each scale with a black spot ; the scales of the series adjoining the vertebral without spot. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Roshan Pererai's Shieldtail |
Sri Lanka |
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Large Shieldtail Snake |
Sri Lanka |
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Salty Earth Snake |
S India |
TL 40 cm |
Head details: snout acutely pointed; rostral obtusely keeled above, about one third the length of the shielded part of the head; frontal longer than broad. Diameter of body: 30-38 times in tho total length. 15 scales round the middle of the body, 19 behind the head. Ventrals: nearly twice as large as the contiguous scales, 182-214; subcaudals 5-10. Tail: caudal disk as long as the shielded part of the head; subcaudal and preanal scales pluricarinate in the male. Coloration: bluish black above, with or without some small light spots; belly and three or four outer series of scales bright red spotted with black ; caudal shield black, with a red band on each side, and sometimes a median one. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Tamil Nadu Earth Snake, Travancore Shieldtail |
S India |
TL 17 cm |
Head details: snout acutely pointed; rostral feebly compressed, not keeled, about one third the length of the shielded part of the head; frontal longer than broad. Diameter of body: 34 times in the total length. Scalation details: 17 scales round the middle of the body, 19 behind the head. Ventrals: about once and a half the size of the contiguous scales, 146; subcaudals 6. Tail: caudal disk a little shorter than the shielded part of the head. Coloration: dark purplish brown, the scales on the sides and belly edged with whitish; anal region black; lower surface of tail yellow. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Sri Lanka |
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Zigzag Rhinophis |
Sri Lanka |
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