As per our present understanding, the Western Ghats has 93 species of endemic reptiles, of which 58 are snakes. Among snakes, the burrowing shield tailed snakes belonging to the family Uropeltidae has seven genera and 34 species. These are subterranean snakes that show unique burrowing adaptations. The family Uropeltidae consists of 43 species of highly specialized snakes found in the mountain ranges of Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats of India. All known species were described between the year 1821 and1896. In 1916, 1943 and 1966 taxonomic revisions were made in the family. About 70% of the species have been recorded from less than five localities. Majority of the species were recorded 1000 m asl. The southern Western Ghats (8o-10oN) harbors 24 species of such endemic species and other species that have confined distribution. Only two species have confined distribution above 13oN latitude. The Anamalais Conservation Area (ACA) alone has 21species, forming an important landscape for the Uropeltid snakes. 

Estimating the diversity and identifying regions of high endemism is an important requirement to assign conservation priorities in a region. Due to the high level of endemism and rarity of the Uropeltid snakes they are ideal for examining the reasons for the evolution of enormous diversity and endemism of life forms in the Western Ghats. With these ideas a study was initiated in four sites, Anamalais, Wynaad-Kottiyur Forests, Kuduremukh, Sharavathi valley and Kodigadde-Mavinagundi where intensive sampling will be carried out. In the study sites altitude range of 400 to 600 m was considered as standard for comparison across latitudes. Altitude levels ranging between 0 to 200 m and 800 to 1000 m were identified as low and high elevation areas. ‘Litter beds’ of the dimension 3 m X 3 m X 1 m were made on the forest floor and allowed to decay for 30 days, after which they were opened and checked for Uropeltids. After the inspection, the litter beds were refilled and left undisturbed for the next 30 days. In all 16 litter beds were laid and checked four times, during which, six Uropeltids belonging to three species were found. Interestingly, 29 Caecilians belonging to the genus Ichthyophis were also found in the same effort. Through the improvised litter beds for finding Uropeltids and Caecilians has not yielded enough information, it is the first attempt to systematically sample subterranean herpetofauna. The presence of the Uropeltids, in forest areas and other areas under different land use offers interesting prospects to contrast diversities and infer the effect of land use practices in the Western Ghats.