The scarce bridle snake (''Lycodon gracilis'') is a species of snake found in South

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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 ...

, and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Description

The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

measures in length, including the tail. The holotype has 234

ventral scales In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that conta ...

, an entire

anal scale Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving s ...

, and 81–83

subcaudal scales In snakes, the subcaudal scales are the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail.Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . These scales may be either single or divided (pair ...

. The ground colour is white. There are about 38 dark-brown crossbands, which are about 2–3 times as wide as the white interspaces. The interspaces are marbled with brown. The first crossband occupies the head. The lower parts are uniform white.

Distribution

This species is known from scattered records, including just two specimens reported since 1888. In India, it is known from

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, and

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

. The Sri Lankan record is from Jaffna. Lastly, this species is known from False Island, off the Arakan coast of

. The holotype was collected from the Anamallay Mountains by Richard Henry Beddome.

Habitat

''Lycodon gracilis'' occurs in moist and dry forests. Its Sri Lankan habitat has been described as "monsoon scrub jungle".

Threats

This species could be threatened by habitat loss and degradation caused by agricultural and urban expansion. However, the impact of these threats is unknown as current records are lacking.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20051229232916/http://www.strangeark.com/ebooks/IndiaHerps.pdf {{Taxonbar, from=Q2711395 Lycodon Snakes of Asia Reptiles of India Reptiles of Myanmar Reptiles of Sri Lanka Taxa named by Albert Günther Reptiles described in 1864