NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Indian Earth Snake
Uropeltis pulneyensis (Beddome, 1863)
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
Uropeltis pulneyensis, commonly known as the Indian earth snake and the Palni shieldtail, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats of India.
Wikipedia contributors, Uropeltis pulneyensis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:14:30.981952+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Uropeltis pulneyensis (Beddome, 1863)
- Name authority
- (Beddome, 1863)
- Common name
- Indian Earth Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Uropeltidae
- Genus
- Uropeltis
- 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
- genusUropeltis
- speciesUropeltis pulneyensis (Beddome, 1863)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Uropeltis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Phipson's ShieldtailUropeltis phipsonii (Mason, 1888) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Woodmason's Earth SnakeUropeltis woodmasoni (Theobald, 1876) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Shevaroy HilIs Earth SnakeUropeltis shorttii (Beddome, 1863) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Spotted Earth SnakeUropeltis maculata (Beddome, 1878) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Madura Earth SnakeUropeltis madurensis (Beddome, 1878) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brougham's Earth SnakeUropeltis broughami (Beddome, 1878) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bicatenate UropeltisUropeltis bicatenata Günther, 1864 | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Beddome's Earth SnakeUropeltis beddomii (Günther, 1862) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tirunelveli Earth SnakeUropeltis arcticeps (Günther, 1875) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bombay Earth SnakeUropeltis macrolepis (Peters, 1862) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Smith's Earth SnakeUropeltis grandis (Beddome, 1867) | UropeltidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rajendran’s Shieldtail snakeUropeltis rajendrani Ganesh & Achyuthan, 2020 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Silybura guentheri Beddome, 1878 Beddome, 1878 | ambiguous synonym |
| Plectrurus pulneyensis Beddome, 1863 Beddome, 1863 | synonym |
| Plectrurus pulneyensis Beddome, 1864 Beddome, 1864 | 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=Uropeltis&species=pulneyensis 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:7DXNQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.