Red-banded Snake

description

Description. In anterior view, the cotyle is rounded in outline. Paracotylar foramina are present on either side of the cotyle. The prezygapophyses are well-developed, and the prezygapophyseal accessory processes are laterally extended. The zygosphene roof is thin and dorsally convex. The zygosphenal articular facets of the zygosphene are inclined dorsally. The neural canal is tunnel-like, with a width approximately equal to that of the cotyle. In posterior view, the condyle is circular in shape and proportionally similar in height and width. The neural arch is extremely depressed to depressed (vaulting ratio = 0.19 – 0.23). The zygantral area is deep and contains paired endozygantral foramina. In ventral view, the centrum is triangular and relatively short. Small paired subcentral foramina are visible flanking a well-developed, oblanceolate haemal keel that extends nearly to the condyle. Subcentral grooves are deep and long. Postzygapophyseal articular facets are oval. Synapophyses are clearly divided into diapophyses and parapophyses, with the absence of parapophyseal processes. In dorsal view, the vertebrae are slightly wider than long. The anterior margin of the zygosphene is s

First fossil frog and snake assemblage from southern Taiwan: a window into Pleistocene herpetofauna and palaeoenvironments in subtropical East Asia

description

Description of the holotype (Fig. 3): The body is robust and slightly laterally compressed. The tail is relatively long, thin, and tapering. The head is elongated, longer than wide, and moderately flattened, with a distinct separation from the neck. The snout is elongated, flattened, and slightly projects beyond the lower jaw. The nostrils are relatively large, positioned dorsolaterally, and round in shape. The eyes are relatively large, with vertical pupils. Body size. SVL 370 mm, TaL 92 mm; ratio TaL / TL 0.199. Body scalation. Dorsal scale rows 17 – 17 – 15, all smooth; scales of the vertebral row not enlarged; no apical pits; 198 ventrals; 74 subcaudals, all paired; cloacal plate undivided. Head scalation. Rostral heptagonal, wider than high, slightly visible from above; nasal single, elongated; nasal surrounded by the first two supralabials, rostral, internasal, and prefrontal; internasals two, curved, slightly wider than longer, in contact with rostral anteriorly, nasal, and prefrontal; two prefrontals, large, subrectangular, prefrontal slightly shorter than frontal; prefrontals in contact with internasals, nasals, preoculars, and frontal; frontal rather small, pentagonal, ta

Taxonomic reassessment of the Lycodon rufozonatus species complex (Serpentes, Colubridae), with re-evaluation of Dinodon rufozonatum walli, and description of a new species from north-central Vietnam

description

General description and variation (see Table 2; Suppl. material 1: table S 1, figs S 4 – S 11). Morphology variation based on 61 examined specimens as well as data morphology of 14 specimens were reported by Duméril et al. (1854), Maki (1931), and Yang and Rao (2008). The longest known specimen is 1,349 mm long (adult female; SVL 1145 mm, TaL 204 mm, ZMB 24830 A). The longest known male is 1,323 mm long (SVL 1122 mm, TaL 201 mm; ZMB 19329). Body elongated; head distinct from neck, markedly flattened; eye medium; pupil vertically oval; rostral triangular, broader than high, clear visible from above; internasals as broad as long, approximately half the length of the prefrontal; prefrontal shorter than frontal; frontal hexagonal; parietals large, longer than wide; nasal divided; one loreal, nearly rectangular, narrowing posteriorly, protruding somewhat beneath preocular, usually entering the eye or not, not in entering with internasals; one (rarely absent or two) preocular; two (single) postoculars; two (single) anterior temporals; three posterior temporals (two); eight (seven or nice) supralabials, 1 st and 2 nd SL in contact with the nasal, 2 nd and 3 rd SL in contact with the lorea

Taxonomic reassessment of the Lycodon rufozonatus species complex (Serpentes, Colubridae), with re-evaluation of Dinodon rufozonatum walli, and description of a new species from north-central Vietnam

description

Tables 2, Fig. 3; Suppl. material 1: table S 1, figs S 4 – S 11

Taxonomic reassessment of the Lycodon rufozonatus species complex (Serpentes, Colubridae), with re-evaluation of Dinodon rufozonatum walli, and description of a new species from north-central Vietnam