Leith's sand snake, Psammophis leithii,
Leith's sand snake | Psammophis leithii Gunther, 1869
Psammophis leithii is a species of
mildly venomous & rear-fanged snake belonging to the Lamprophiidae
family which is native to south Asia. It is also known as the Leith's sand
snake. The appellation, leithii to this snake is given in honor of Andrew
H. Leith, was a physician with the Bombay Sanitary Commission. Currently the
species is reported from countries such as Afghanistan, India
and Pakistan.
In India it is
distributed in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, UttarKhand, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and
Maharashtra
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Scientific classification |
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Kingdom: |
Animalia |
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Phylum: |
Chordata |
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Class: |
Reptilia |
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Order: |
Squamata |
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Suborder: |
Serpentes |
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Family: |
Lamprophiidae |
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Genus: |
Psammophis |
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Species: |
P. leithii |
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Binomial
name |
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Psammophis leithii
Gunther, 1869 |
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Description:
It has rostral broader
than deep, visible from above; nostril is between two or three shields, the
posterior one is divided into two where internasals are about half the length
of prefrontals. On the other hand frontal is narrow & lengthier than its
distance from the end of the snout; nearly as long as the parietals; loreal is twice
as long as deep; pre-ocular single and in contact with the frontal; and two
post-oculars. The temporals may be 1+2 or 2+2. upper labials 8-9, 4-5 or 5-6
enters in the eye; lower labials 5. The dorsal scales are in 17/17/13-15
in rows at while the ventral scales are 159-188 in number; anal undivided, and
the subcaudals are 82-138 in number.
Head elongated, broader
than neck covered with smooth scales and snout depressed; body is long, thin, and
slenderise having yellowish or pale greyish color dorsally with black dots or four
longitudinal brown stripes which are usually marked with black color at the edges,
the outer passing through the eyes. Distinctive ridge are also seen between the
top and side of head. Two dark stripes that are found on top dorsals originate
from the top of head in forked manner. Upper lips are observed white, lined by black
or dark brown streak on both either side of eyes. Eyes are large having rounded
pupil. While the ventral side is white, uniform/spotted/marked with grey or
olive in the middle, with or without a dark lateral line or series of dots.
Adults of this
species may attain a total body length of 3 feet and 3 inches which
includes a tail length of about 1 ft. Tails noticed are long, slender and thin
having no stripes dorsally or the topmost dark stripes unite and retain few
portion of it.
The species is oviparous
in nature. Female lays a clutch of 4-10 eggs inside holes, crevices and mounds
during summer months.
The serpent has its
distribution mainly in grasslands or at places with low shrubs, degrading dry
& open scrub-lands. Like all other species in this genus this species also possess
mild venom which is not injurious to humans.
It is a diurnal species
which also shows some arboreal for basking and foraging activities. Locomotion in
these snakes is fast and shows serpentine movement. This species is active in behavior
that’s why shows quick response in escaping manner to any foreign movement. The
species is observed to take lizards, bird chicks and small rodents as a meal in
its range.
It closely resemble
to species viz., Psammophis condanarus
and Psammophis schokari which are
sympatric to it in many parts of deserts which often creates confusion in it
identification.
Literature Cited:
Baig, K.J., Masroor, R., and Arshad, M. (2008).
Biodiversity and ecology of the herpetofauna of Cholistan Desert, Pakistan. Russ. J. Herpetol., 15 (3): 193-205
- get paper here
Boulenger, G.A. 1890. The Fauna of British
India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor &
Francis, London - get paper here
Günther, A. 1869. Report on two collections
of Indian reptiles. Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1869: 500-507 - get paper here
Ingle, M., and Anil, S. (2013) First record
of Leith’s Sand Snake (Psammophis leithii,
Gunther, 1869) from Sheopur district, Madhya Pradesh, India. International Journal of Environment &
Animal Conservation, 2 (1): 1-4
Patel, H., and Raju, V. (2019). Reptiles of
Gujarat, India: Updated Checklist, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Herpetology Notes, 12: 765-777 - get paper here
Psammophis leithii at en.wikipedia.org retrieved on 22 April 2021
Psammophis leithii at reptile-database.reptarium.cz
retrieved on 22 March 2021
Saba, A., Shermeen, I., Hira, A., Rimsha, K.,
and Sehrish, A. (2020). Diversity of amphibians and reptiles in Daphar Forest
Sanctuary, district Mandi Bahauddin, Pakistan. Journal of Wildlife and Ecology, 4(1):15-26
Sahi D.N., and Koul, S. (2020). Annotated
List of Amphibians and Reptiles of Jammu and Kashmir State. In: Dar G. &
Khuroo A. (eds) Biodiversity of the Himalaya: Jammu and Kashmir State. Topics
in Biodiversity and Conservation, vol 18. Springer, Singapore - get paper here
Saikia, U., Sharma, D.K., and Sharma, R.M. (2007).
Checklist of the Reptilian fauna of Himachal Pradesh, India. Reptile Rap (8): 6-9 - get paper here
Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India,
Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia
and Amphibia. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor and Francis, London.
Wall, F. (1907) Notes on Snakes collected in
Fyzabad. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.,
18: 101-129 - get paper here
Wall, F. (1911) Remarks on a snake collection
in the Quetta museum. J. Bombay Nat.
Hist. Soc., 20: 1033-1042 - get paper here
Wall, F. 1907. Extension of the Habitat of
the Sand Snake (Psammophis leithii). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 203 - get paper here
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