Argyrophis oatesii

Argyrophis oatesii

Andaman island worm snake, Oates's blind snake

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SPECIES
Argyrophis oatesii

Argyrophis oatesii, also known commonly as the Andaman Island worm snake or Oates's blind snake, is a species of harmless snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to the Andaman Islands. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

Animal name origin

The specific name, oatesii, is in honor of English ornithologist Eugene William Oates.

Appearance

Boulenger (1893) described A. oatesii as follows: "24 scales round the body. Yellowish, with confluent brown spots corresponding to the series of scales and forming longitudinal lines which are broader than the interspaces. Total length 200 millim.."

Distribution

Geography

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Until recently, A. oatesii was only known from the type locality, which is "Table Island, Cocos Group, Andamans" in the Bay of Bengal. Table Island belongs to Myanmar. However, Murthy and Chakrapany (1983), reported finding a second specimen from the island of Mayabunder, just off the coast of Middle Andaman Island, which belongs to India.

Mating Habits

Argyrophis oatesii is oviparous.

References

1. Argyrophis oatesii Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyrophis_oatesii
2. Argyrophis oatesii on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/191999/2026021

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