Truong’s wolf snake

description

Description of holotype (Figs 3, 4; Table 3). Head flattened slightly sloping anteriorly, distinct from the neck, HL 16.0 mm, HW 12.9 mm, HH 7.6 mm, snout somewhat elongate, SnL 6.3 mm, EN 4.8 mm; nostril oval, large, in the middle of the nasal, IND 5.6 mm; eye moderately sized, ED 2.5 mm, with a vertically elliptic pupil; rostral triangular, hardly visible from above; nasal vertically divided by a furrow along posterior margin of nostril; two square internasals, in wide, medial contact, and in contact with two large, subrectangular prefrontals posteriorly; single, azygous, subpentagonal frontal, longer than wide; two large, elongate parietals, contacted laterally by upper anterior and posterior temporals and a larger paraparietal; 1 / 1 wide, elongate supraocular; 1 / 1 small preocular, located above the posterior portion of loreal; 2 / 2 postoculars of similar size; 1 / 1 narrow, elongate loreal not entering orbit, in contact with second, third, and fourth supralabials ventrally, the prefrontal and preocular dorsally, the nasal posteriorly; 8 / 8 supralabials all higher than wide except last scale in the series; first and second supralabials in contact with nasal; third, fourth,

Two new syntopic species of wolf snakes (genus Lycodon H. Boie in Fitzinger, 1826) from an imperiled ecosystem in the Song Giang River Valley of southern Vietnam (Squamata: Colubridae)

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Lycodon truongi sp. nov. is separated from all other species of the L. rufozonatus complex by having the combination of a maximum SVL length of 700 mm; tail length 195 mm; 17 - 17 - 15 dorsal scale rows; 14 maxillary teeth; eight supralabials with the third-fifth contacting the eye; nine infralabials; one preocular; two postoculars; an elongate loreal not contacting the eye; two anterior temporals; two posterior temporals; 200 ventral scales; 91 paired subcaudal scales; a divided precloacal plate; 15 keeled vertebral scale rows from midbody to vent; uniform dark-brown to black adult head pattern; no wide light-colored nuchal-occipital collar in the adult; black dorsal ground color; 19 narrow white body bands; 13 white caudal bands; white dorsal bands on ventrolateral section of body as opposed to a reticulated pattern; anterior one-half of venter white, and posterior of venter bearing white and broken black bands. These characters are scored across all species of the L. rufozonatus complex in Table 2.

Two new syntopic species of wolf snakes (genus Lycodon H. Boie in Fitzinger, 1826) from an imperiled ecosystem in the Song Giang River Valley of southern Vietnam (Squamata: Colubridae)

etymology

Etymology. The specific epithet " Lycodon truongi " is a patronym honoring Professor Dr. Quang Truong Nguyen for his long-standing extensive contributions to the herpetology of Vietnam and his broad international collaborations.

Two new syntopic species of wolf snakes (genus Lycodon H. Boie in Fitzinger, 1826) from an imperiled ecosystem in the Song Giang River Valley of southern Vietnam (Squamata: Colubridae)