Cope's Rough-side

About the Cope's Rough-side

Aspidura copei, commonly known as Cope's rough-sided snake or කලු මැඩිල්ලා (kalu medilla) in Sinhalese, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Sri Lanka. The specific name, copei, is in honor of American herpetologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.

A. copei is found in the mountains of central Sri Lanka. Localities recorded are Dimbulla, Dickoya, Hopewell estate of Balangoda, Avissawella, and Pundaluoya. The head of A. copei is indistinct from the neck, and the body is cylindrical. The dorsum is brown, with a brownish-olive mid-dorsal band, 2-3 scales wide, flanked on each side by a series of 23-26 dark blotches. The flanks have dark markings occupying 2-4 scales that reach the ventrals. The forehead is olive-brown, and the lips are light yellow, edged with black. A narrow dark band descends diagonally from the temporals, past the angle of the mouth to the edge of the ventrals. The venter is mottled green, with a series of solid blotches along the ventral midline.

Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of 63.5 centimetres (2 feet 1.0 inch). A. copei is a burrowing... Wikipedia →