Table Of ContentMISCELLANEOUSNOTES
study ofthe requirements ofthe various species inthecollectionoftheSociety,andwassurprised
of Nectarinia would provide very interesting to note that the female purplerumped sunbirds
reasons for species sharing wide tracts as do had shorter and finer bills than the males!
asiatica, zeylonica and lotenia, with the former
extendingfarbeyondtheothertwo.Whatfactors October 10, 1998 LAVKUMARKHACHER
delineate the ranges of species otherwise 646, Vastunirman,
compatible? Gandhinagar 382 023,
To conclude, during an earlier visit to Gujarat,
Mumbai, Ihadexaminedthe sunbirdspecimens India.
15. NESTING OF PLOCEUSPHILIPPINUS(LINN.) AND PLOCEUSMANYAR
(HORSFIELD) ON MANGROVE AND ASSOCIATED SPECIES IN
CORINGAWILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ANDHRAPRADESH
AtCoringaWildlife Sanctuary(c. 15° 17'N nests of P. philippinus and P. manyar
&76°26' E),AndhraPradesh,wehave recorded respectively;an—dMyrisosatchyawightiana(Nees
nests (both complete and incomplete ‘practice exSteud.)Hk.f. 4incompletenestsofP.manyar.
nests’) of the baya weaver bird Ploceus Itisinterestingtonotethatallthecomplete
philippinus (Linn.) and streaked weaver bird nests were observed in the creek near human
P. manyar (Horsfield) on mangrove and habitation, while the majority of incomplete
associated species. Almost all the accessible ‘practice nests’ were observed far away, nearer
creeks and canals crisscrossing the sanctuary the sea front.
were surveyed. In all, 72 nests ofboth types of C. Srinivasulu acknowledges financial
each species were recorded, of which 19 were assistance granted to him by the CSIR, New
complete, and the rest incomplete ‘practice Delhi.
nests’. Altogether, 5 species of nesting plants
—were noted, which wereAvicennia officinalis L. November2,1998 C. SRINIVASULU
12 complete and 3 incomplete nest—s of V.VASUDEVARAO
P. philippinus Clerodendron inerme (L.) 7 V.NAGULU
;
completene—sts ofP. manyar; Dalbergiahorrida Wildlife Biology Section,
(Dennst). 6 and 16 incomplete nests of Department ofZoology,
P. philippinus and P.—manyar respectively; Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007,
Acanthus ilicifolius L. 18 and 6 incomplete Andhra Pradesh, India.
16. FIRST RECORD OF PSAMMOPHILUSBLANFORDANUS(STOLICZKA 1871)
(FAMILY: AGAMIDAE)FROMGUJARAT,INDIA
On December 8, 1998 at 1335 hrs, an identifiedwiththehelpofdiagnostickeys(Smith
olive-brown lizardwas observedona largerock 1935) as Blanford’s rock agama lizard
alongthedrybankofthePanamriver(atributary (Psammophilus blanfordanus). In addition, two
of Mahi), near Kanjeta village, Ratanmahal specimens of the same species have been
Wildlife Sanctuary (RWS), Panchmahal district collected from the rocky bed ofthe Terav river
(20° 31'-22° 35' N, 74° ll'-74° 33' E). It was (a tributary of the Narmada), near Mal-Samot
432 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(3), DEC. 2000
.
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
villages, Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary Local tribals, call it sardo or kanchido.
(SWS), Bharuchdistrict(21°03' - 21° 59'N, 73° The species isabundantina fewrivervalleysof
05' - 74° 10' E). SWS and RWS. A few lizards are arboreal.
Thisolive-brownlizardhasaseriesoflarge During the breeding season (April to August),
oval-shapedspotsoneachsideoftheback,which malesperformcourtshipdisplaysuponlargetree
m
are absent in the sub-adults. Marbled spotted trunks 2-3 high, similar to Calotes garden
markings on tail, limbs and lateral body region. lizards.
Headpalebrownandablackspotpresentonthe According to Smith (1935) and Khajuria
forehead. A dark stripe is present from the nasal and Agrawal (1981), P. blanfordanus is
tothetympanum,onbothsidesofthehead(BNHS distributedinIndia,fromHoshangabad,Madhya
Regn. Nos. 1441 and 1442). The measurements Pradeshto eastBiharandOrissa, Eastern Ghats,
andother details are given in Table 1 and up to south Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Psammophilusblanfordanusisdistributed The present record from the eastern part of
inthe easternpartofcentralGujarat, fromSWS, central Gujarat is a range extension.
Bharuch district towards the northeast, through
the forests of Vadodara district (Nasavadi and August 3, 1999 RAJUVYAS
Chhota Udepur tehsil) and up to Ratanmahal Sayaji Bang Zoo,
Wildlife Sanctuary, Panchmahal district of the Vadodara 390018,
adjoining Madhya Pradesh. Gujarat, India.
Table
1
MORPHOMETRICDATAANDPHOLIDOSISOFBLANFORD’SROCKAGAMA
{PSAMMOPHILUSBLANFORDANUS),GUJARATSTATE.
Details RatanmahalWildlifeSanctuary ShoolpaneshwarWildlifeSanctuary
SpecimenBNHS RegnNo. 1441 1442 .
Snouttoventlength 4.8 7.0 5.5
Taillength 9.2 7.0tailcut 10.7
Totalbodylength 14.0 14.0+ 16.2
Headlength 1.2 1.2 1.3
Headwidth 1.1 1.6 1.05
A-G 2.08 3.9 2.09
ED 0.4 0.6 0.5
E-N 0.6 0.6 0.5
E-S 0.8 0.9 0.8
E-E 0.55 0.6 0.4
EL 0.30 0.35 0.30
UpperlabialR/L 10/11 10/10 11/11
LowerlabialR/L 10/11 10/10 10/11
Rostralcoveredwithno.ofscales 4 6 4
Snoutcoveredscales Keeled/unequal Keeled/unequal Keeled/unequal
Backscales Keeled Keeled Keeled
Bellyscales Keeled Keeled Keeled
No.ofscalerowsonbody 109 100 85
Hindlimbdigitslamellale, 11:15:18:20:13 8:15:21:24:17 10:17:20:23:17
Twoseparatedspinesonthebackofthehead Present Present Present
Sex Notdetermined Male Female
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(3),DEC. 2000 433
1
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
References
Khajurja,H.&H.P.Agrawal (1981):Studiesonwildlife Smith,M.A. (1935): FaunaofBritishIndia. Reptiliaand
ofNarbada valley - Part II. Reptilia. Zool. Surv. Amphibia. Vol. II Sauria. Taylor and Francis,
India. 78(1): 21-36. London.440pp.
17. REDISCOVERY OF TWO RARE TYPHLOPIDS, TYPHLOPS THURSTONI
BOETTGER, 1890 AND T. TINDALLI SMITH, 1943 FROM KERALA
(Withfour text-figures)
This is a report of the rediscovery of The margins ofthe scales are darker. The snout
TyphlopsthurstoniBoettger, 1890and T. tindalli is rounded and strongly projecting. The rostral
Smith, 1943 from Trichur district, Kerala state, is 2/3rd as broad as the head, and extends to the
southwestern India, during a herpetological level of the ocular. The central portion of the
survey conductedbythe author. rostralis studdedwithglands andis darkbrown.
The large nasal is incompletely divided by a
TyphlopsthurstoniBoettger, 1890 suturestartingfromthesecondlabialandending
justbeyondthenostril. The anteriornasal is less
Itwas knownfromonlyfourspecimens in than half the size of the posterior nasal. The
the Natural History Museum, London and one prefrontal is half as broad as the head, in full
with the Zoological Survey of India (Murthy contact with rostral, separating the posterior
1993). Unfortunately, collection details nasals. The frontal is as large as prefrontal, both
pertaining to the latter are not available. are double the size ofother body scales. Ocular
Originally described from the Nilgiris, it was andpreocularshorterthannasal,thelatteralmost
reported from Trichur (Wall 1919) and from as broad as posterior nasal and in contact with
Wynaad in Kerala (Procter 1924). The present prefrontal,frontalandsupraocular,besidesocular
specimenwascollectedonAugust 18, 1997,from and posterior nasal. Supraocular twice as broad
a coconut grove withlaterite soil inChavakkad, as long. Smith (1943) stated that eyes are not
28 km west ofTrichur. ‘distinguishable’ in this species, but in the
T. thurstoni is a small, active snake, light present specimen, they are distinguishable. The
browndorsallyandpalebrownventrally, except tail ends in a point. There are 20 scales around
for the snout and anal region which are whitish. the body, the diameter ofwhich is contained 7
times in the total length. Transverse scale rows:
481. Length: 215 mm. Diameter: 3 mm. The
pholidosis is shown in Figs 1 and 2.
The present finding from Chavakkad was
made 73 years after the last record by Procter
(1924) fromWynaad.
Typhlops tindalli Smith 1943
Figs 1 & 2: Head scalation in KeraT.latinbdyallBiowualsenfgiresrtr(e1p8or9t3e)dwfhroomNidielnatmifbiuerd
Typhlops thurstoni Boettger
434 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(3), DEC 2000
