NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Ceylonese Cylinder Snake
Cylindrophis maculatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Ceylonese cylinder snake (Cylindrophis maculatus) is a species of snake in the family Cylindrophiidae endemic to Sri Lanka. It is known from plains up to 1000m, localities include Gampola, Peradeniya, Kandy, Pallekele, and Elahera in the central hills and Nikaweratiya in the north-western part of the island.
Known as දෙපත් නයා (depath naya) and වටඋල්ලා (wataulla) in Sinhala, it is the first reptile discovered and documented by Sri Lanka. Its defense response consists of flattening posterior half of the body and curling posterior quarter of the body and tail forwards, with head usually concealed under body during this display.
Wikipedia contributors, Ceylonese cylinder snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:49:35.345382+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cylindrophis maculatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Ceylonese Cylinder Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Cylindrophiidae
- Genus
- Cylindrophis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyCylindrophiidae
- genusCylindrophis
- speciesCylindrophis maculatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cylindrophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Boulenger's Pipe SnakeCylindrophis boulengeri Roux, 1911 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Jampea Island Pipe SnakeCylindrophis isolepis Boulenger, 1896 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mirza’s Pipe-Snake [mirzae]Cylindrophis ruffus (Laurenti, 1768) | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Jodi’s Pipe-SnakeCylindrophis jodiae Amarasinghe, Ineich, Campbell & Hallermann, 2015 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cylindrophis subocularis Kieckbusch, Mecke, Hartmann, Ehrmantraut, O'Shea & Kaiser, 2016 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Slowinski’s pipesnakeCylindrophis slowinskii Bernstein, Bauer, Mcguire, Arida, Kaiser, Kieckbusch & Mecke, 2020 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Aru Cylinder SnakeCylindrophis aruensis Boulenger, 1920 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Burmese Pipe-SnakeCylindrophis burmanus Smith, 1943 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cylindrophis engkariensis Stuebing, 1994 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blanford's Pipe SnakeCylindrophis lineatus Dennys, 1880 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Island Pipe SnakeCylindrophis opisthorhodus Boulenger, 1897 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yamdena Pipe SnakeCylindrophis yamdena Smith & Sidik, 1998 | CylindrophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Anguis maculata Linnaeus, 1754 Linnaeus, 1754 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Cylindrophis&species=maculatus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:333RD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.