Argyrophis oatesii

Argyrophis oatesii, also known commonly as the Andaman Island worm snake or Oates's blind snake, is a species of harmless snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to the Andaman Islands. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.^[4]

Argyrophis oatesii
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Typhlopidae
Genus:	Argyrophis
Species:	A. oatesii
Binomial name
Argyrophis oatesii Boulenger, 1890
Synonyms[2][3]
Typhlops oatesii Boulenger, 1890 Typhlops oatesii — Boulenger, 1893 Typhlops oatesi — Wall, 1923 Asiatyphlops oatesii — Hedges et al., 2014 Argyrophis oatesii — Pyron & Wallach, 2014

Etymology

The specific name, oatesii, is in honor of English ornithologist Eugene William Oates.^[5]

Geographic range

Until recently, A. oatesii was only known from the type locality, which is "Table Island, Cocos Group, Andamans" in the Bay of Bengal. Table Island belongs to Myanmar. However, Murthy and Chakrapany (1983), reported finding a second specimen from the island of Mayabunder, just off the coast of Middle Andaman Island, which belongs to India.^[2]

Description

Boulenger (1893) described A. oatesii as follows: "24 scales round the body. Yellowish, with confluent brown spots corresponding to the series of scales and forming longitudinal lines which are broader than the interspaces. Total length [including tail] 200 millim. [7.9 inches]."

Reproduction

Argyrophis oatesii is oviparous.^[3]