Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2016
Wagler (1830) described a new genus of colubrid snake from Sri Lanka and assigned it the generic name Aspidura (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae) for which the type species Aspidura brachyorrhos (Boie, 1827) (syn. Scytale brachyorrhos Boie, 1827) was placed. Since this description, five more species have been described and assigned to the genus: Aspidura copei Günther, 1864; Aspidura deraniyagalae Gans and Fetcho, 1982; Aspidura drummondhayi Boulenger, 1904; Aspidura guentheri Ferguson, 1876; and Aspidura trachyprocta Cope, 1860, all of which are geographically restricted to Sri Lanka.