What: Bhupathy’s shieldtail
Where: Tamilnadu (Western Ghats)
Who: Jins V.J
- Researchers have discovered a new shieldtail snake species in the forests of the Anaikatty hills in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district.
- The brownish and 40 cm long new snake species have been named as Uropeltis bhupathyi, after the late herpetologist S. Bhupathy, for his contributions to the field.
- This new snake species is the latest addition to the snake fauna of the Western Ghats.
- The snake belongs to a family of snakes found only in south India and Sri Lanka.
- These are non-venomous snakes and their primary prey is earthworm.
- Due to large, flat tips of their tails, which make them appear almost sliced off, these are called and are called shieldtails.
- With this new discovery, the number of known species of shieldtails in India has increased to 41.
- The new snake species was discovered by Jins V.J.
