''Aspidura'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of the
Colubridae
Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ev ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
s that is endemic to island of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
which is commonly known as rough-sided snake, and as මැඩිල්ලා (maedilla) in
Sinhala. Black-spined snake which was once in the genus ''Haplocercus'' is now added to this genus. The genus is now comprised with 9 species, with the latest discovery in 2019.
Species
* Boie's rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura brachyorrhos'' Sri Lanka
* Black-spined snake ''
Aspidura ceylonensis'' Sri Lanka
* Cope's rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura copei'' Sri Lanka
* Deraniyagala's rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura deraniyagalae'' Sri Lanka
*De Silva's rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura desilvai'' Sri Lanka
* Drummond-Hay's rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura drummondhayi'' Sri Lanka
* Gunther's rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura guentheri'' Sri Lanka
* Ravana's rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura ravanai'' Sri Lanka
* Common rough-sided snake ''
Aspidura trachyprocta'' Sri Lanka
References
* http://biostor.org/reference/40976
* http://jpaleontol.geoscienceworld.org/content/72/2/401.citation
* https://www.amazon.com/Aspidura-Serpentes-reptilia-Colubridae-Carnegie/dp/B00072JZSO
Aspidura
Reptiles of Sri Lanka
Snake genera
Taxa named by Johann Georg Wagler
{{Colubrids-stub