NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Nagarjunasagar Racer
Platyceps bholanathi (Sharma, 1976)
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
Platyceps bholanathi, also known as the Nagarjun Sagar racer, Nagarjunasagar racer, Nagarjuna racer, Bhola Nath's racer, or Sharma's racer, is a species of colubrid snake. It is found in peninsular India, in the Eastern Ghats and the Deccan Plateau, in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. It is a rather recently described species, that was first discovered in 1976, in the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam by scientists of the Zoological Survey of India.
It is a diurnal, fast-moving, active snake, living among rock boulders. It feeds on lizards, small mammals, and birds.
Wikipedia contributors, Platyceps bholanathi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:46:11.263760+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Platyceps bholanathi (Sharma, 1976)
- Name authority
- (Sharma, 1976)
- Common name
- Nagarjunasagar Racer
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Platyceps
- 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
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyColubrinae
- genusPlatyceps
- speciesPlatyceps bholanathi (Sharma, 1976)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Platyceps. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Afar racerPlatyceps afarensis Schätti & Ineich, 2004 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Short RacerPlatyceps brevis (Boulenger, 1895) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Collared Dwarf RacerPlatyceps collaris (Müller, 1878) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Spotted Desert RacerPlatyceps karelini (Brandt, 1838) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brahui RacerPlatyceps noeli Schätti, Tillack & Kucharzewski, 2014 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platyceps scortecci (Lanza, 1963) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Variable SnakePlatyceps variabilis (Boulenger, 1905) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Glossy-bellied RacerPlatyceps ventromaculatus (Gray, 1834) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dahl’s Whip SnakePlatyceps najadum (Eichwald, 1831) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dahlak RacerPlatyceps largeni (Schätti, 2001) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rogers' RacerPlatyceps rogersi (Anderson, 1893) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Banded RacerPlatyceps plinii (Merrem, 1820) | ColubridaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Coluber bholanathi Sharma, 1976 Sharma, 1976 | synonym |
| Eremiophis bholanathi | 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=Platyceps&species=bholanathi 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:4JP6Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.