A decade-long quest to trace a resplendent, albeit elusive, snake is finally complete.
A group of researchers have rediscovered the Golden shieldtail after 142 years in the Chembra hills in Wayanad during a recent expedition.
The non-venomous species, known scientifically as Plectrurus aureus, had remained untraceable since its first documentation by botanist Col. Richard Henry Beddome, who was also the Conservator of Forests of the erstwhile Madras Forest Department, in the same region in 1880.
The expedition led by researchers Vivek Philip Cyriac of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and Avrajjal Ghosh of the National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar, also included forest guards of the South Wayanad forest division, among other members.
In wet forests
According to Dr. Cyriac, the Golden shieldtail belongs to a unique family of burrowing, soil-dwelling snakes called Uropeltidae (Shieldtail snakes), which are restricted to the wet forests of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. They are among the most lesser-known snakes in India. While Wayanad has about eight species of shieldtail snakes, the Golden shieldtail has remained elusive to researchers.
“We have made several trips to the Chembra peak over the past 10 years in search of the species. During our last visit, one of the forest guards mentioned that Chembra was not just a single hill, but had constituted a cluster of hills in the past. This prompted us to survey other regions in the Camel’s Hump hills which finally led us to spot two Golden shieldtail snakes under logs in a thick evergreen forest at 1,400 m above sea level,” he said.
Olive-yellow iridescence
In the absence of any previous photographic documentation, the team matched the characteristic features of the specimens with the information recorded by Col. Beddome. The species has an olive-yellow iridescent colouration on the body and the belly is bright yellow with black iridescent markings.
The researchers had earlier stumbled upon many false positives, the most recent reported in Coonoor in Nilgiris where a snake closely resembled the Golden shieldtail, but was soon found to differ from the species.
While further studies were required to ascertain its conservation status, it is highly likely the species could be endangered considering the fact that it has been found in only one particular place thus far, Dr. Cyriac pointed out.
