Sirumalai hills earth snake, Dindigul uropeltis
Uropeltis dindigalensis, commonly known as the Sirumalai Hills earth snake or the Dindigul Uropeltis, is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. It is endemic to Sirumalai and surrounding hill ranges of Southern Eastern Ghats, in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu state in South India.
Dorsum yellowish with small dark brown spots, the yellow scales dark-edged. A yellow streak on the labials, continuing along each side of the neck. Ventrum dark brown with yellow spots or yellow short crossbars. Ventral surface of tail yellow.
The largest of the type specimens is 35.5 cm (14 inches) in total length.
Dorsal scales in 19 rows behind the head, in 17 rows at midbody. Ventrals 156–168; subcaudals 5–10.
Snout acutely pointed. Rostral laterally compressed, about two fifths the length of the shielded part of the head, the portion visible from above much longer than its distance from the frontal. Nasals in contact with each other behind the rostral. Frontal longer than broad. Eye very small, not half the length of the ocular shield. Diameter of the body 26 to 32 times in the total length. Ventrals twice as broad as the contiguous scales. Tail obliquely truncate, flat dorsally, with strongly pluricarinate scales. Terminal scute with a transverse ridge and two points.
It is found only in Sirumalai, a part of Southern Eastern Ghats in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu in South India. It occurs in high-elevation wet forests, over 900 m asl. It is also sometimes met with in coffee and mixed fruit orchards and plantations in this region.
Type locality = "Heavy forest on the Sirumullay hills, near Dindigul, at 4000–5000feet elevation".
A poorly-known snake, not often documented in scientific studies due to its very small geographic range. A fossorial, nocturnal, slow-moving snake. It is known to feed on earthworms.
