Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2019-09-23
Page range: 68–82
Abstract views: 144
PDF downloaded: 3

A new species of the genus Hebius (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) from Hunan Province, China

College of Wildlife Resources, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. Institute of herpetology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China. Experimental Center, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China.
College of Wildlife Resources, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. Jiangxi Academy of Forestry, Nanchang, 330013, China.
Institute of herpetology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China.
Institute of herpetology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China.
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol/The Museum of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol/The Museum of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Institute of herpetology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China.
College of Wildlife Resources, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
Reptilia Hebius sangzhiensis sp. nov. Natricinae new species taxonomy

Abstract

A new snake species of the genus Hebius is described on the basis of three specimens from Hunan Province, China. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a significant genetic divergence of 6.1%–12.9% of the mitochondrial cytb gene and a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) tail long, approximately 25% of the total length; (2) dorsal scale rows 19-19-17, vertebral scales enlarged, smooth, 2nd–10th rows distinctly keeled; (3) anterior temporals 2, preocular 1, postoculars 3; (4) ventrals 160–164; (5) internasals narrowed anteriorly; (6) a pair of occipital spots and a pale postparietal streak; (7) a pale brown or beige dorsolateral stripe on the 4th–6th scale rows; (8) ventral scales brick-red at their outer border, with a row of well-defined dark blotches; (9) maxillary teeth 21, gradually enlarged, followed by 2 moderately enlarged posterior teeth, without diastema; (10) nostrils lateral.

 

References

  1. Boulenger, G.A. (1890) The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii + 541 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.57017

    Boulenger, G.A. (1899) On a collection of reptiles and batrachians made by Mr. J. D. La Touche in N.W. Fokien, China. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 159–172.

    Boulenger, G.A. (1904) Descriptions of new frogs and snakes from Yunnan. The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology, Series 7, 13 (74), 130–134.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930408562447

    Boulenger, G.A. (1908) Description of a new snake from Yunnan. The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology, Series 8, 2 (9), 244.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930808692479

    Boulenger, G.A. (1909) Descriptions of four new frogs and a new snake discovered by Mr. H. Sauter in Formosa. The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology, Series 8, 4, 492–495.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930908692704

    Burbrink, F.T., Lawson, R., & Slowinski, J.B. (2000) Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of the polytypic North American rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta): a critique of the subspecies concept. Evolution, 54 (6), 2107–2118.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2000.tb01253.x

    David, P., Agarwal, I., Athreya, R., Mathew, R., Vogel, G. & Mistry, V.K. (2015) Revalidation of Natrix clerki Wall, 1925, an overlooked species in the genus Amphiesma Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 (Squamata: Natricidae). Zootaxa, 3919 (2), 375–395.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3919.2.9

    David, P., Bain, R.H., Nguyen, T.Q., Orlov, N.L., Vogel, G., Vu, T.N. & Ziegler, T. (2007) A new species of the natricine snake genus Amphiesma from the Indochinese Region (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae). Zootaxa, 1462, 41–60.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1462.1.2

    David, P. & Das, I. (2003) A new species of the snake genus Amphiesma (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae) from western Sumatra, Indonesia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 51 (2), 413–419.

    David, P. & Vogel, G. (2010) A new species of the natricine snake genus Amphiesma from Borneo (Squamata: Natricidae). Russian Journal of Herpetology, 17 (2), 121–127.

    Dowling, H.G. (1951) A proposed system for counting ventrals in snakes. British Journal of Herpetology, 1, 97–99.

    Gressitt, J.L. (1937) A new snake from southeastern China. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 50, 125–128.

    Guo, P., Zhu, F., Liu, Q., Zhang, L., Li, J.X., Huang, Y.Y. & Pyron, R.A. (2014) A taxonomic revision of the Asian keelback snakes, genus Amphiesma (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae), with description of a new species. Zootaxa, 3873 (4), 425–440.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3873.4.5

    Hu, S.Q & Zhao, E.M. (1966) Three new species of reptiles from Szechwan. Acta Zootaxononomica Sinica, 3 (2), 158–164.

    Inger, R.F., Zhao, E.M., Shaffer, H.B. & Wu, G.F. (1990) Report on a collection of Amphibians and Reptiles from Sichuan, China. Fieldiana, Zoology, 58, 1–24.

    Kaito, T., & Mamoru, T. (2016) The biogeographical history of Asian keelback snakes of the genus Hebius (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 118 (2), 187–199.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12726

    Kizirian, D., Truong, N.Q., Ngo, H.T., & Le, M.D. (2018) Parahelicops, Pararhabdophis, Paraphyly: Phylogenetic Relationships among Certain Southeast Asian Natricine Snakes (Hebius). American Museum Novitates, 3906, 1–8.

    https://doi.org/10.1206/3906.1

    Liu, Q., Zhong, G.H., Hu, J., Zhao, H. & Guo, P. (2012) Amphiesma bitaeniata: a snake new to Guizhou Province. Chinese Journal of Zoology, 47 (1), 112–115.

    Liu, Q., Zhong, G.H., W, P., Liu, Y. & Guo, P. (2018) A new species of the genus Hebius (Squamata: Colubridae) from Sichuan, China. Zootaxa, 4483 (2), 385–394.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4483.2.10

    Malnate, E. V. & Underwood G. (1988) Australasian natricine snakes of the genus Tropidonophis. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 140 (1), 59–201.

    Maki, M. (1931) A Monograph of the Snakes of Japan. Vol.1. Dai-ichi Shobo, Tokyo, 240 pp.

    Malnate, E.V. (1960) Systematic division and evolution of the colubrid snake genus Natrix, with comments on the subfamily Natricinae. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 112 (3), 41–71.

    Purkayastha, J. & David, P. (2019) A new species of the snake genus Hebius Thompson from Northeast India (Squamata: Natricidae). Zootaxa, 4555 (1), 79–90.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4555.1.6

    Queiroz, D.A., Lawson, R., & Lemos-Espinal, J.A. (2002) Phylogenetic relationships of North American garter snakes (Thamnophis) based on four mitochondrial genes: how much DNA sequence is enough? Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 22 (2), 315–329.

    https://doi.org/10.1006/mpev.2001.1074

    Ren, J.L., Wang, K., Nguyen, T.T., Hoang, C.V., Zhong, G.H., Jiang, K., Guo, P. & Li, J.T. (2018) Taxonomic re-evaluation of the monotypic genus Pararhabdophis Bourret, 1934 (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) with discovery of its type species, P. chapaensis, from China. Zootaxa, 4486 (1), 31–56.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4486.1.2

    Ronquist, F, Teslenko, M.V.M.P., Ayres, D.L., Darling, A., Höhna, S., Larget, B., Liu, L., Suchard, M.A. & Huelsenbeck, J. (2012) MrBayes 3.2: efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model choice across a large model space. Systematic Biology, 61 (3), 539–542.

    https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029

    Schmidt, K.P. (1925) New reptiles and a new salamander from China. American Museum Novitates (157), 1–5.

    Shen, Y.H., Ye, Y.Y. & Deng, X.J. (2014) Fauna Hunan: Reptilia. Hunan Science and Technology Press, Changsha, 220 pp.

    Silvestro D. & Michalak, I. (2012) RaxmlGUI: a graphical front-end for RAxML. Organisms Diversity & Evolution, 12 (4), 335–337.

    https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-011-0056-0

    Uetz, P., Freed, P. & Hošek, J. (2019) The Reptile Database. Available from: http://www.reptile-database.org/ (accessed 7 June 2019)

    Wall, F. (1910) A new Tropidonotus from the Chin Hills. The journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 20, 345–346.

    Wall, F. (1925) Notes on snakes collected in Burma in 1924. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 30 (4), 805–821.

    Zhao, E.M. (2006) Snakes of China (I). Anhui Sciences and Technology Publishing House, Hefei, 372 pp.

    Zhao, E.M., Huang, M.H. & Zong, Y. (1998) Fauna Sinica: Reptilia. Vol.3. Squamata Serpentes. Science Press, Beijing, 522 pp.

    Ziegler, T. & Le, Q.K. (2006) A new natricine snake of the genus Amphiesma (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) from the central Truong Son, Vietnam. Zootaxa, 1225, 39–56.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1225.1.4