Crying Keelback

description

Description of holotype. Body moderately stout; head average (3.6 % of SVL), distinct from the neck; snout long, flattened, 34.7 % of HL, 1.7 times as long as horizontal diameter of the eye, blunt from above, subrectangular in profile; nostril lateral, crescentic, piercing in the middle of divided nasal in its lower half; eye moderately sized, diameter 1.5 times greater than distance between its inferior margin and edge of upper lip; pupil round; tail cylindrical and tapering. Size. SVL: 340 mm; TaL: 147 mm; TL: 487 mm; HL: 12.4 mm; ratio TaL / TL: 0.301. Dentition. A total of 27 maxillary teeth: 24 gradually enlarged + 3 distinctly enlarged posterior teeth, separated from anterior teeth by a short diastema. Hemipenis. The organ was examined in situ. As it was in very bad condition and brittle because of the formalin used to preserve the specimen, we could observe only its general features. Hemipenis short, reaching the 5 th subcaudal, simple and seemingly smooth. Body scalation. DSR: 19 – 19 – 17, not notched at their posterior extremity, distinctly keeled with a narrow, sharp keel, more keeled on posterior half of body except scales of 1 st DSR, all smooth and enlarged. Dorsal sc

A new species of the snake genus Hebius Thompson from Northeast India (Squamata: Natricidae)

diagnosis

Diagnosis. A species of the genus Hebius characterized by combination of the following characters: (1) body elongate; (2) tail amounting for 30.1 % of the total length; (3) 24 gradually enlarged maxillary teeth, followed, with a diastema, by 3 distinctly enlarged posterior teeth; (4) nostrils lateral; (5) internasals broad anteriorly; (6) 2 preoculars; (7) 1 anterior temporal, (8) 19 – 19 – 17 dorsal scale rows, distinctly keeled except scales of the 1 st rows, smooth but distinctly enlarged; (9) 147 ventrals, not keeled (+ 2 preventrals); (10) anal divided; (11) 89 subcaudals; (12) a white stripe extending on the middle of supralabials from the edge of rostral and 1 st SL to the anterior half of the 6 th SL just below the eye; a second stripe, slightly higher on the labials and temporal regions than the first one, extends from the 7 th SL to the 9 th SL then beyond the angle of jaw to the nape, producing a short V-like chevron; (13) a dark area on the posterior half of 6 th SL, separating the two white stripes; (14) dorsum dark greyish-brown variegated with blackish-brown blotches, without stripe or aligned dorsolateral dots; (15) venter ivory with a large, elongate blotch paralle

A new species of the snake genus Hebius Thompson from Northeast India (Squamata: Natricidae)

etymology

Etymology. The species nomen derives from the Latin noun lacrima (- ae), meaning “ a tear ”, a reference to the dark area under the eye looking like a black tear which interrupts the white supralabial stripe. This species nomen is a noun in apposition and not an adjective. We suggest the following common names: Crying Keelback (English). Ecological notes. The single known specimen was obtained from a rice field alongside a hill slope (Fig. 3) in the outskirt of the city of Basar (Fig. 4), so in a heavily disturbed area. A small stream was flowing adjacent to this field. An indigenous agricultural practice called Jhum (shifting) cultivation was done in the hills adjacent to the rice field.

A new species of the snake genus Hebius Thompson from Northeast India (Squamata: Natricidae)

materials_examined

Holotype. VR / ERS / ZSI / 610, adult male, from Basar (27.980559 ° N, 94.688496 ° E), West Siang District, State of Arunachal Pradesh, India, at ca. 600 metres a. s. l. Collected by a villager, preserved in concentrated formalin and subsequently given to Jayaditya Purkayastha, 7 August 2010.

A new species of the snake genus Hebius Thompson from Northeast India (Squamata: Natricidae)