Eryx conicus

Eryx conicus
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Boidae
Genus:	Eryx
Species:	E. conicus
Binomial name
Eryx conicus (Schneider, 1801)
Synonyms[2]
[Boa] Conica Schneider, 1801 Boa Viperina Shaw, 1802 Boa ornata Daudin, 1803 Erix Bengalensis Guérin, 1830 [Tortrix] eryx bengalensis — Schlegel, 1837 Gongylophis conicus — Wagler, 1842 Eryx conicus — A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844 Eryx conicus var. laevis W. Peters, 1869 Gongylophis conicus — Boulenger, 1890 Eryx conicus — Boulenger, 1893 Eryx conicus brevis Deraniyagala , 1951 Eryx conicus conicus — Rajendran, 1967 Eryx conicus gansi Rajendran, 1971 Gongylophis (Gongylophis) conicus — Tokar, 1989 [Eryx] conicus — Kluge, 1993 E[ryx]. conicus — Szyndlar & Schleich, 1994 Gongylophis [(Gongylophis)] conicus — Tokar, 1995

Common names: Russell's sand boa, rough-tailed sand boa,^[3] Common sand boa.

Eryx conicus, also known as Russell's sand boa, the Common sand boa or the rough-tailed sand boa, is a species of non-venomous snake in the subfamily Erycinae of the family Boidae. The species is native to Southern Asia. No subspecies are recognised.^[4]

Description

Adults of G. conicus may attain a total length of 3 feet 3 inches (99 cm), which includes a tail 3 inches (76 mm) long.

The anterior maxillary and mandibular teeth are longer than the posterior. The head is covered with small scales. The eye is small with a vertical pupil. The dorsal scales are small and keeled. The tail is pointed, not or but very slightly prehensile.^[5]

The

The anterior dorsal scales are only feebly keeled, but these keels increase in size posteriorly to the point that they become so heavily keeled that it can make a squirming specimen really painful to handle. This also makes it look as if the front and rear ends belong to markedly different animals.[6]

In India it can be mistaken at first glance for either the Indian python (Python molurus) or the deadly Russell's viper (Daboia russelii).

Behavior

E. conicus is active at dusk and at night.^[7]

Diet

E. conicus preys upon birds and small mammals, which it kills by constricting.^[7]

Geographic range

E. conicus is found in

E. conicus is viviparous.^[9]

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gongylophis conicus.

• Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Gongylophis conicus, p. 247, Figure 75).
• ISBN 0-88359-056-5
  . (Eryx conicus, p. 13).
• Gray JE (1849). Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xv + 125 pp. (Gongylophis conica [sic], p. 108).
• Günther ACLG (1864). The Reptiles of British India. London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (Gongylophis conicus, p. 333).
• Jones C (2004). "Sandboas". Reptilia 9 (3): 20-30.
• Schneider JG (1801). Historiae Amphibiorum naturalis et literariae Fasciculus Secundus continens Crocodilos, Scincos, Chamaesauras, Boas, Pseudoboas, Elapes, Angues, Amphisbaenas et Caecilias. Jena: F. Frommann. vi + 374 pp. + Plates I-II. (Boa conica, new species, p. 268). (in Latin).
• Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Eryx conicus, pp. 112–113).
• Tokar AA (1995). "Taxonomic revision of the genus Gongylophis Wagler 1830: G. conicus (Schneider 1801) and G. muelleri Boulenger 1892 (Serpentes Boidae)". Tropical Zoology 8 (2): 347-360.
• ISBN 978-81-901873-0-5
  .