NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Travancore Hills Thorntail Snake
Platyplectrurus madurensis Beddome, 1877
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.
Madurai Shieldtail (Platyplectrurus madurensis)
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Open encyclopedia reference
Platyplectrurus madurensis, commonly known as the Travancore Hills thorntail snake, Palni purple-brown worm thorntail snake, or Madurai shield-tail snake, is a species of uropeltid snake. It is found in southern India and, depending on the source, Sri Lanka.
Wikipedia contributors, Platyplectrurus madurensis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:07:40.125572+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Platyplectrurus madurensis Beddome, 1877
- Name authority
- Beddome, 1877
- Common name
- Travancore Hills Thorntail Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Uropeltidae
- Genus
- Platyplectrurus
- 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
- familyUropeltidae
- genusPlatyplectrurus
- speciesPlatyplectrurus madurensis Beddome, 1877
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Platyplectrurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Lined Thorntail SnakePlatyplectrurus trilineatus (Beddome, 1867) | UropeltidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Plectrurus ruhunae Deraniyagla, 1954 Deraniyagla, 1954 | synonym |
| Wallia inexpectata Werner, 1925 Werner, 1925 | 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=Platyplectrurus&species=madurensis 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.
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:4JVNW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.