It is a non-venomous
species of snakes commonly known as Red Sand Boa or Indian Sand Boa failing
under family Boidae endemic to Iran, Pakistan and India. The name “johnii” is given in honor of a German naturalist “Christoph Samuel John (1747–1813)”.
The adult specimens of Eryx johnii can grow upto 3 feet’s. The dorsal body of the species is cylindrical having small keeled scales which appears smooth. The body color of the species varies from brown to reddish-brown, reddish-black, and chocolate brown in adults. Where color in adults specimens is darker than in sub-adults. Juveniles are reddish coloured having blackish markings, which is prominent on the posterior side of the body. Where on the ventral side the specimens have much narrower like a typical burrowing snakes, the color also varies according to dorsal body color which may be white, dark brown, having orange or blackish patches present. Subcaudals scales sometimes may have a different color than the ventral ones.
Eryx johnii (Source: Indiansnakes.org)
Head of the species is depressed towards snout having smooth scales and is not broader than the neck. Eyes are small having vertical pupil. Tail in this species is small & thick having head like appearance for what it is also recognized as “Two Headed Snake”.
Scientific classification
|
|
Kingdom:
|
Animalia
|
Phylum:
|
Chordata
|
Class:
|
Reptilia
|
Order:
|
Squamata
|
Suborder:
|
Serpentes
|
Family:
|
Boidae
|
Genus:
|
Eryx
|
Species:
|
johnii
|
Binomial name
|
|
Eryx johnii, Russell, 1801
|
|
Scalation in this species is as: Supra-labial are 10-12; scales in between eyes are 6-9, besides there are 10-12 small scales are also found surrounding eyes. Dorsal scales are between 53-67 rows which are keeled & small sized scales of smooth appearance. Whereas ventral scales are narrower & are ranged between 190-213, narrower than the body width; while anal are tripartite. Sub caudal are 20-34 and are undivided.
It is a nocturnal species of snake which show activity at night & spends most of its time hiding as burrower under mounds, rocks, rat holes, loose sand, crevices, agricultural lands, gardens, and unused lands having sandy soil, deep cracks, rat holes and many more. It feeds on rodents and small lizards, besides rarely on small snakes. Red sand boa is ovoviviparous, where females giving birth to 12-14 juveniles at a time.
The species is distributed within Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and India (Tamil Nadu, Jammu (J & K) Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh).
Broad threats to the species include anthropogenic pressures such as road kills, killings due to agricultural and digging activities, superstitions beliefs as well, beside illegal trade is the other crucial threat for this species.
Literature Cited:
Acharji, M.N. and Kripalani, M.B. 1952. On a collection of Reptilia and Batrachia from the Kangra and Kulu Valleys, Western Himalayas. Records of Indian Museum, 49 (2): 175-184.
Aengals, R., Kumar, S.V.M. and Palot, M.J. 2012. Updated Checklist of Indian Reptiles (http://www.lacertilia.de/AS/Bibliografie/BIB_6715.pdf.).
Agarwal, I., Mistry, V.K. and Atreya, R. 2010. A preliminary checklist of reptiles of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 17 (2): 81-83.
Ali, W., Arshad J., Syed M.H., Hamda A. and Ghazala J. 2016. The Amphibians and Reptiles Collected from Different Habitat Types in District Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool., 48(4): 1201-1204 - get paper here
Ali, W., Javid, A., Syed, M.H., Hamda, A. and Ghazala, J. 2016. The Amphibians and Reptiles Collected from Different Habitat Types in District Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool. 48(4): 1201-1204 - get paper here
Anderson, J. 1871. On some Indian reptiles. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1871: 149-211 - get paper here
Ansari, N.A. 2018. Enumeration of herpetofaunal assemblage of Surajpur Wetland, National Capital Region (India). Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 12(2) [General Section]: 90–97 (e161) - get paper here
Avadhani, R. 2005. Snakes of India. Reptilia (GB) (41): 32-37 - get paper here
Baig, KJ, 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
Bhupathy, Subramanian & N. Sathishkumar 2013. Status of reptiles in Meghamalai and its environs, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5 (15): 4953-4961 - get paper here
Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 3, London: Taylor and Francis.
Boulenger, G.A. 1892. Description of a new snake from Nubia. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 9: 74-76 - get paper here
Boulenger, G.A 1890. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia, Taylor and Francis London,
Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol., III. Taylor and Francis, London - get paper here
Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
Carranza, S., Xipell, M., Tarroso, P., Gardner, A., Arnold, E.N., and Robinson M.D. 2018. Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata).Plos One, 13 (2): e0190389 - get paper here
Chandra K., and Gajbe P. U. 2005. An inventory of herpetofauna of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Zoos' Print Journal, 20 (3): 1812-1819
Chikane, S., and Bhosale, H. 2012. Reptiles of Kaas, Northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India, with notes on habitat preferences, abundances and threats. Sauria, Berlin, 34 (3): 3–15
Daniel, J.C. 1983. The Book of Indian Reptiles. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University press, Mumbai, India.
Daniel, J.C. 2002. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University press, Mumbai, India.
Das, I. 1991. A new species of Eryx (Boidae: Serpentes: Squamata) from south-western India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 88 (1): 92-97 - get paper here
Duda, P.L. and Sahi, D.N. 1977. An uptodate checklist of herptiles of Jammu & Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir University Review, 6 (10): 1-7.
Dutta S.K., Acharjyo L.N. 1995. Herpetofaunal resources and their conservation in Orissa, India. Zoos’ Print, Vol. 10 (7): 5-8
Fellows, S. 2015. Species Diversity of Snakes in Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve. Entomol. Ornithol. Herpetol., 4: 136. doi:10.4172/2161-0983.1000136
Ganesh S.R., and Asokan J.R. 2010. Catalogue of Indian herpetological specimens in the collection of the Government Museum Chennai, India. Hamadryad, 35 (1):46-63.
Ganesh S. R., Chadramouli S. R., Sreekar R. and Shankar P. G. 2013. Reptiles of the Central Western Ghats, India- a reappraisal and revised checklist, with emphasis on the Agumbe Plateau. Russian Journal of Herpetology. 20 (2):134-142.
Eryx johnii at reptile-database.reptarium.cz retrieved on 16 July2019
Red-sand-boa at Indiansnakes.org retrieved on 16 July2019
Eryx_johnii at wikipedia.org retrieved on 16 July2019
Jones, C. 2004. General Care and Maintenance of Sand Boas. Reptilia (GB), 34: 29-33 - get paper here
Jones, C. 2004. Sand Boas. Reptilia (GB), 34: 12-23 - get paper here
Kannan P. and Venkatraman, C. 1998. Reptile fauna of Siruvani Hills, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu. Cobra, 33: 6-9
Khaire, N.K. 2010. “Snakes”, In: Milind, L.P. (Eds.). Jyotsna Prakashan Dhavalgiri, Pune, India.
Khaire, N.K. 2015. “Indian Snakes a field guide”, In: Milind, L.P. (Eds.). Jyotsna Prakashan Dhavalgiri, Pune, India.
Khan, Q.A. and Khan, S.M. 1996. Snakes of state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Proceedings of. Pakistan Congress of Zoology, 16: 173-182.
Leviton, A.E. 1959. Report on a collection of reptiles from Afghanistan. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., 29 (12): 445-463 - get paper here
Manhas, A., Kotwal, A., Wanganeo, R.R. and Wanganeo, A. 2015. Diversity, Threats and Conservation of Herpetofauna in and around Barkatullah University, Bhopal (MP), India. Int. J. Adv. Res. 3: 1546-1553.
Manhas, A., Raina, R. and Wanganeo, A. 2017. Current Status and Diversity of Ophidians (Reptilia: Squamata: Serpents) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Int. J. Cur. Micro. Appl. sci., 6 (5): 1384-1390.
Manhas, A., Raina, R. and Wanganeo, A. 2018. Reptilian diversity of the Bhopal region of state Madhya Pradesh of central India. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians, 25 (2):104-114.
Manhas, A., Raina, R., and Wanganeo, A. 2016. An addition to the reptilian diversity of Barkatullah university campus, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Int. J. Pure Appl. Zool., 4 (4): 306-309.
Manhas, A., Raina, R., and Wanganeo, A., 2015. Snakes of the Bhopal district, Madhya Pradesh, India with special reference to road mortality. J. Res. Biol., 5: 1868-1873.
Manhas, A., Raina, R., and Wanganeo, A., 2016. An assessment of reptilian diversity and their distribution in Jammu and Kashmir state from Jammu city in northern India: A case study. IJFBS, 3: 20-23
Murthy, T.S.N. 1990. Illustrated Guide to the Snakes of the Western Ghats, India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper No. 114
Murthy, T.S.N. 2010. The reptile fauna of India. B.R. Publishing, New Delhi, 332 pp.
Murthy, T.S.N. and Sharma, B.D. 1976. A contribution to the Herpetology of Jammu and Kashmir. British Journal of Herpetology, 5: 533-538.
Murthy, T.S.N. and Sharma, B.D. 1979. Second report on the herpetofauna of Jammu and Kashmir. The snake, 11: 234-241.
Palot, M.J. 2015. A checklist of reptiles of Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(13): 8010–8022 - get paper here
Parmar, D.S., and Shantilal, K.T. 2019. Herpetofauna of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat, India. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians, 26 (1): 21–34 - get paper here
Sahi, D.N. 1979. A contribution to the herpetology of Jammu and Kashmir. Ph.D. Thesis submitted to University of Jammu (Unpublished).
Sahi, D.N. and Duda, P.L. 1985. A checklist and keys to the amphibians and reptiles of Jammu and Kashmir State, India. Bulletin of Chicago Herpetological Society, 20 (3-4): 86-97.
Sahi, D.N. and Duda, P.L. 1986. Affinities and distribution of amphibians and reptiles of Jammu and Kashmir state (India). Bulletin of Chicago Herpetological Society, 21(3-4): 84-88.
Saikia, U., Sharma, D.K. and Sharma, R.M. 2007. Checklist of reptilian fauna of Himachal Pradesh. Reptile Rap, 8: 6-9.
Schmidt, K.P. 1939. Reptiles and amphibians from Southwestern Asia. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. Ser., 24: 49-92 - get paper here
Smith, M.A. 1943. “Fauna of British India”, Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor and Francis, London.
Srinivasulu C., and Das I. 2008. The herpetofauna of Nallamala Hills, Eastern Ghats, India: an annotated checklist, with remarks on nomenclature, taxonomy, habitat use, adaptive types and biogeography. Asiatic Herpetological Research, 11: 110–131
Vyas, R. 2007. Herptofauna of Puma Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, India. Reptile Rap (8): 10-15 - get paper here
Wallach, V., Williams, K. L. and Boundy, J. 2014. Snakes of the World: A catalogue of living and extinct species. Taylor and Francis, CRC Press.
Whitaker, R. 2005. Common Indian Snakes, A Field Guide. Macmillian Publishers
Whitaker, R., Captain A. 2004 Snakes of India, The Field Guide. Draco Books
Whitaker, R. 2006. “Common Indian snakes” a field guide. Macmillan India press, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Whitaker, R. and Captain, A. 2004. “Snakes of India”, the Field Guide. Draco Books, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
