Chrysopelea taprobanica Smith, 1943 was previously considered to be endemic to the dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka. However, an adult specimen of C. taprobanica was collected from Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve of Andhra Pradesh, India, being the first record of this snake species from India, significantly extending the known range of distribution of the species. The dry zones of peninsular India were connected with Sri Lanka as recently as ca. 17,000 years ago, which probably allowed movement of species between these two regions.

Herpetological diversity of the Eastern Ghats hill range in the Indian peninsula has been mostly overlooked and incompletely documented. We here present information on the amphibian and reptile diversity in the poorly-explored Central Eastern Ghats hill range in peninsular India. Based on a 1,000-hour bioinventory study of the series of ranges between the Palar River (abutting Tamil Nadu) and the Krishna River (abutting Telangana) for about 10 months (300 field days), we present the following results. A total of 105 species of herpetofauna, consisting of 24 amphibian species, 35 lizard species, 42 snake species and 4 chelonian species were documented. Several new range extension records and new findings of rare species are discussed, substantiated by photovouchers, pre-existing museum specimens or both.