#shieldtail snakes

[herpsandbirds]

Two-lined Black Shieldtail Snake (Melanophidium bilineatum), family Uropeltidae, Western Ghats, India

photograph by Daimler Pereira

[typhlonectes]

A new species of Uropeltis Cuvier, 1829 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from the eastern escarpment of the southern Western Ghats, India

A new species of the uropeltid (‘shieldtail’) snake genus Uropeltis is described based on eight specimens from the southern part of peninsular India’s Western Ghats.  Uropeltis caudomaculata sp. nov. is phenotypically and genetically most similar to U. pulneyensis (Beddome, 1863), but differs primarily in having more ventral scales and in being restricted to the eastern escarpment of the Western Ghats between Meghamalai and approximately 15 km East of Munnar rather than in the Palani Hills, as well as differing in DNA nucleotide sequences. From verified records, we consider U. pulneyensis to be known thus far only from the Palani Hills, and we designate a lectotype for the species. Reconsideration of the holotype of Silybura guentheri Beddome, 1878 from Meghamalai leads us to conclude that it should be removed from the subjective junior synonymy of U. pulneyensis and be considered a distinct though very poorly known species, Uropeltis guentheri comb. nov.

Read the paper here:

A new species of Uropeltis Cuvier, 1829 (Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from the eastern escarpment of the southern Western Ghats, India | Zootaxa (mapress.com)

[billionneuronscurious]

Shield-tail Snake Hunting Earthworm.

This was the third time that I witnessed a Shield-tail Snake Hunting Earthworm. 

First time I saw it at Kaas, Second time I saw it in the outskirts of Satara city, and this is the Third time that I saw this at Raireshwar.

I have come across Shield-tail Snakes several times, but the species may have been different ones. Me after watching shield-tail snake hunting earthworm so many times, it appears, that the earthworm is their common prey, and this must be a common scene.

During this third encounter, while the snake in the video can be seen hunting earthworm, the snake later abandoned its hunt. The snake was observed leaving the earthworm and the scene. But, after snake vanished in nearby grass, and when I left the site, it remains unknown whether snake again pursued the same earthworm it had attacked.

Also, the earthworm appeared to have a tear on its body at one end. Whether the fight with snake somehow must have caused it, or it was caused by some other reason couldn’t be understood. This was happening on a trail, through which tourists were regularly passing.

-  Dhairyasheel Dayal

[monarchbutt]

daily snake #10

🖤 The Pied-Bellied Shieldtail Snake (Melanophidium punctatum) is a species of snake endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It has a rounded snout, and they mainly eat earthworms.

[deathmetalunicorn1]

hello if is not a problem can I request from romantic Buddha, Hercules, Poseidon, and Hades with a lamia goddess s/o, that's the goddess of music, luck, fortune, and of course snakes? if you don't know what's a lamia here's a small pick that I found on Pinterest

-Y/N was regarded as one of the most uniquely beautiful goddesses in Valhalla, the upper torso of a human maiden, and the lower half of a snake, a Pied-Bellied Shieldtail (pictured above) to be specific, glossy black scales that sparkled with rainbows in the light.

-You were the goddess of music, luck, and of course snakes! You were a goddess of the arts, playing and blessing others with your beautiful music, blessing those who have earned good karma with luck, and taught others that all snakes were beautiful, but also taught that not all were harmless, to always teach others to respect your precious snakes.

-To the humans, you were revered as a benevolent god, rewarding those who have earned it and teaching harsh lessons to those who don’t respect your precious babies.

-To the gods you were a stunning beauty, your scales were stunning, especially in the light, and your human half was just as stunning, always smiling and being kind to others.

-You weren’t a pushover however, just like your snakes, if pushed, if disrespected, your fangs, your power, were deadly and most of the gods knew not to make you mad.

Buddha

-Was jealous that you have a seat wherever you go, as you could coil your coils beneath you and relax into them.

-When he first mentioned this to you, a few other gods were around you and they were terrified for Buddha, thinking he had insulted you, as many had learned that lesson early on, but you just laughed, “I’ve never thought about it that way!” and everyone calmed.

-You were a vibe for Buddha, you were calm, relaxed, your music was beautiful, and unlike the other gods, you were pleasant to talk to.

-Buddha courted you by pulling a prank on you, while you waited beneath his tree for him, he had been hiding up in the tree with a basket of flowers and once you were in place, he dumped the flowers upon you.

-You had been shocked at first, until you saw the blossoms and you looked up, seeing Buddha grinning down at you and you giggled, showing off your own fangs before he joined you down in the grass.

-He tucked a beautiful blossom behind your ear before cupping your cheek, looking at you fondly and you placed your hand over his own, keeping his hand there and you smiled at him, reciprocating his affections.

Hercules

-When he first saw you, curled up on your tail that sparkled in the light, he couldn’t help but stare.

-You found the massive man a bit amusing, that he had been stunned stiff when he saw you.

-Once he was able to speak, after you approached him, your body moving much like a snake, but your torso was still, like a normal walking maiden, “Am I that unusual, young one?”

-His hands instantly grabbed your owns, his eyes sparkling, “Not at all! You were just so beautiful I couldn’t think!!” his words stunned you and you instantly pulled back, cupping your cheeks as you shied away a bit, but his bright grin made you return your own.

-He treated you like a princess, easily carrying you, including your eight foot long tail, without breaking a sweat, and he never failed to tell you how beautiful you were and telling you how much he loved you.

-He could listen to your music for hours and you have blackmail proof that your music had put him to sleep more than once, which was amusing, and you couldn’t help but tease him about it from time to time.

-He adored and respected everything about you and demanded it from others, if younger gods, ones who didn’t know better, would say something cruel about you, he wouldn’t hesitate to step in to defend you.

-Hercules would never admit it when he saw you angry for the first time, after some young gods insulted you, your eyes flashed red, you bared your fangs, and showed them a small portion of your power, putting them in their place easily. He gave you extra firm hugs that night.

Poseidon

-He wasn’t completely sure what had drawn him to you, your beautiful music, your lovely looks, your sparkling scales that reminded him of the sea, or how you were putting several younger gods in their places, swinging your tail like a battering ram, fighting expertly, proving that you were as strong as you were beautiful.

-You were surprised when Poseidon approached you and instantly expressed his interest in you romantically, you weren’t the only one, as Zeus and several other gods were nearby, jaws dropped all around the room.

-You were the perfect match for him, you were beautiful, elegant, and soothing, he could listen to your music for hours, and you were intelligent and witty as well, able to hold conversations with him as well.

-He would not and would never admit it, but he likes it when he’s been working too much, and you use your tail to grab him and haul him away. It shows your power over him, and he is impressed that you can control your tail in such a way.

Hades

-Your music is what drew Hades to you, your playing soothed away his headache after another pointless meeting with Zeus and he actually sought you out, to see who had created such lovely music.

-You were surprised to see Hades himself there once you finished playing and he applauded you before he thanked you.

-Your stunning looks left him wanting more and he actually didn’t notice your lower half until the second time he sought you out, asking you to walk with him.

-When you uncoiled your lower half and he saw your shimmering snake tail, his eyes were wide in awe but was quick to offer you an arm, to escort you.

-People gawked, jaws to the floor, to see you and Hades together, you looked so good together, many thought it wasn’t fair that the two of you were so good looking and you were together!! It wasn’t fair!!

-Hades found you first as a pleasant friend, always willing to lend him an ear, able to hold conversations with him, and found that you were more laid back compared to other gods.

-When you first started going out, it was after you had to discipline some younger gods who insulted you, swinging your tail around like a weapon, grabbing their ankles with the end of your tail and throwing them away, showing a bit of your power.

-He had been so stunned while watching this, as soon as he snapped out of his shock, the first words out of his mouth was asking you to date him.

-You agreed of course and became the beautiful power couple you were meant to be.

[luckydragon10]

I vote 4 and 5 for the ask game :3

Oh hi there! :D Thanks for playing.

4. What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of?

OH shoot, ahh, you're not going to insert a fic for me? You're gonna make ME pick it? Meanie. 😭

Okay, before moving forward, I have to say...

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

Spoilers for my fic in the answers below.

This particular answer might be triggery for sad stuff, so there's that. Skip to the next answer if you need to.

I'm especially pleased with a thing I did in Heart on Fire: In this fic, we have Dragon!Kinn in his fully dragon form, and at the start of the fic I describe that his belly is overly stuffed and is hurting him. But I don't explain the reason for that right away.

Later on, I reveal that Kinn ate his whole dang hoard of gold, and it's been melted down in his stomach so that he can use the gold for decorating the burial mound he's carved into a mountain.

~~~

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

Which fic?! Aahhhh! I don't even know where to start. 😵 Okay, high level answer it is.

Problem is that I don't know what questions I want asked? Like, what I really want is to cause curiosity. If I can inspire someone to be curious about anything in my fics, I feel deeply satisfied about that.

I think a lot of times, reading fanfic is treated like a sort of... passive activity? That's not quite the right phrase, but kind of? Or maybe more like it's treated as all intake, a solo activity that's confined within the boundaries of the of the reader's mind as they consume it.

There's nothing wrong with that, mind you! If that's all a reader gets out of it, that's still great! I've brought someone entertainment, and that does my heart good.

But the next level to that is inspiration. The King's Tree inspired fanart and numerous questions about world building, and it inspired someone who is now a particularly beloved friend to initiate a direct message to me (cough, @daswarschonkaputt, cough). Shieldtail inspired people to look up information about nagas and snakes. The Ongoing Adventures of Ace!Kim inspired someone to ask honest and sincere questions about asexuality.

TLDR: The question I most want people to ask is the question I've inspired them to ask. I want to know that I made their brain burn to the point that they had to take action. 🤩

~~~

Thank you for asking!

Ask game question list

[homestuck-human-generator]

Name: Mrs. Leva Houben Color: Stone Gray #928e85 Symbol: Stop Sign Strife Specibus: fistkind Handle: tenuousCopacetic Animal: kouprey Pronouns: he/him Age: 13 Birthday: June 4, which was a wednesday. Sexuality: bisexual Interests: pyrography and livestreaming Dream Moon: derse Classpect: Sylph of Blood Land: Land of Wrath and Fire, a cruel place, with eager Perrotet's shieldtail snake consorts. It is a place full of villages and migrating dunes. Oceanus hungers. Instrument: cervelat

[roll-a-troll]

Name: Sai Whelan Velyes Ancestor: The Knockout Strife Specibus: knifekind Blood Color and Sign: Teal; Librius Handle: tastyClam Lusus: grison rent Pronouns: they/them Age: 21 sweeps Interests: lotology (lottery ticket collecting) and video game collecting Sexuality: asexual Class: Rogue Land: Land of Toys and Clockwork, a crazy place, with attractive Perrotet's shieldtail snake consorts. It is a place full of mountains like dragon's talons and hands reaching from the ground. Oceanus seeks rest. Quirk: duplicate your c's via roll-a-troll https://ift.tt/4nTyjxQ, do as you please

[padithathilpedithathu]

🌟TOP 10 Beautiful Snakes in The World🌟

🌟TOP 10 Beautiful Snakes in The World🌟

Snakes are one of the most dangerous of all reptiles that freak each human out. Since its starting point somewhere in the range of a very long time back, scientists have had the option to recognize around 3000 types of snakes. However a portion of these snakes have become terminated, a couple more are probably going to go wiped out in the closest future. Winds live in pretty much every side of…

[askshilohfields]

You're Beautiful A Snake

Aww! Thank you. 

[ophiology101]

Iridescent shieldtail

This species, found in the mountains of India, might be the world's most colorful serpent. It may also be one of the world's least known snakes, as only three specimens have been identified. Its iridescent back and belly are separated by a brilliant yellow stripe.

The above is one of the first photographs of this species taken in the wild! 

source

[billionneuronscurious]

The Beauty of Shieldtail Snake.

[lovingexotics]

Iridescent Shieldtail Melanophidium bilineatum Source: Here Check out the List: 12 Uniquely Weird Snakes

[any-otherkin-requests]

Black Shieldtail Snake Aesthetic for @shieldtailblake​

hey! I’m glad you decided to request from me! I hope you like my aesthetic! Sorry it’s not more specific to your kintype :(. Hope you enjoy nonetheless! Thank you for requesting! <3

[homestuck-human-generator]

Name: Miss Dell Hagashi Color: Natural Black #07000b Symbol: record Strife Specibus: fancysantakind Handle: adamantGastriloquist Animal: banteng Pronouns: they/them Age: 42 Birthday: 177th day of the year Sexuality: straight Interests: canyoning and knot tying Dream Moon: derse Classpect: Maid of Void Land: Land of Clouds and Float, an awful place, with uninterested Perrotet's shieldtail snake consorts. It is a place full of stranded ships and cities. Mnemosyne is the land. Instrument: clavichord

[alovelikesims]

Moira caught this lovely, rare Iridescent Shieldtail Snake, which sold for enough to get a few necessities.