Zoological Scientists have discovered a new species of shield tail snake named Bhupathy’s shield tail from the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu.
It is presently only known to exist in Anaikatty hills of Tamil Nadu which is dominated by deciduous type of vegetation.
Bhupathy’s shield tail was named in honour of Dr Subramanian Bhupathy who was a noted Indian herpetologist.
The zoological name of this newly identified snake is Uropeltis bhupathyi. It differs from other members of its group as it has a broader and longer head.
It has been categorised it as ‘data deficient’ in IUCN Red list of threatened species as of now.
At present, there are 45 known species of shield tail snakes around the world, of which 30 are endemic to India and 15 to Sri Lanka.
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles.