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Issue: Vol. 5666 No. 4: 30 Jul. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-07-30
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5666.4.3
Page range: 509-528
Abstract views: 345
PDF downloaded: 6

Hidden in the Sky Islands: A new species of Xylophis Beddome, 1878 (Serpentes: Pareidae: Xylophiinae) from montane habitats of Wayanad in the Western Ghats of India

SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation; Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE); Royal Enclave; Srirampura; Jakkur; Bengaluru 560064; India
Centre for Research in Emerging Tropical Diseases; Department of Zoology; University of Calicut; Thenhipalam; Kerala; 673635; India
School of Biological Sciences; National Institute of Science Education and Research; Odisha; 752050; India
Zoological Survey of India; Western Ghat Regional Centre; Kozhikode; Kerala; 673006; India
Wayanad Wild; CGH earth experience; Lakkidi; Wayanad; Kerala; India
Natural History Museum; London SW7 5BD; UK.; Department of Zoology; Central University of Kerala; Kerala; 671320; India
Natural History Museum; London SW7 5BD; UK.; Newcastle University; Newcastle upon Tyne; United Kingdom
Reptilia vellarimala kurichyarmala Nilgiri hills taxonomy wayanad woodsnake

Abstract

A new species of the snake genus Xylophis is described from the Wayanad region in the Western Ghats of India. The new species, X. chenkaruppan sp. nov., is described based on six specimens collected from Vellarimala and Kurichyarmala Hills. Molecular genetic analysis based on three mitochondrial (16s, cytb & nd4) and one nuclear (cmos) marker recovered this lineage as sister to X. perroteti. Although also phenotypically generally similar to X. perroteti from Nilgiri Hills (north of the lowland Palghat Gap), the ventral head morphology of X. chenkaruppan sp. nov. differs from the former in that the posterior genial shields are in midline contact, a condition found also in X. mosaicus occurring only south of the Palghat Gap. An updated key to the identification of the species of the genus Xylophis is provided herein.

 

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How to Cite

Narayanan, S., Das, S., Ghosh, A., Palot, M.J., Umesh, P., Gower, D.J. & Deepak, V. (2025) Hidden in the Sky Islands: A new species of Xylophis Beddome, 1878 (Serpentes: Pareidae: Xylophiinae) from montane habitats of Wayanad in the Western Ghats of India. Zootaxa, 5666 (4), 509–528. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5666.4.3