The name is derived from the Greek words ura ('tail') and pelte ('shield'), indicating the presence of the large keratinous shield at the tip of the tail.

The orbital bones are absent, the supratemporal is vestigial, and the eyes are small and degenerate, not covered by a brille, but by large polygonal shields.

Because of their peculiar geographic distribution, with many hill ranges in South India and Sri Lanka each having an endemic shield-tail snake, they are thought to be analogous to Darwin's finches, in a broader sense – an evolutionary radiation.

Genetic studies on this group have brought forth largely similar results as regards common ancestry and phenotypic diversification patterns.

[7][8] [9] Molecular dating analysis has suggested that uropeltids originated around the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, splitting from its sister clade Cylindrophiidae + Anomochilidae around 56 MYA.

Frank Wall, who dissected many species for analysing the gut contents to study the diet, remarks about the presence of worms and mud.