Wagner's Kukri Snake

description

Description of holotype. Body cylindrical and robust but elongate; head short, ovoid, depressed, barely distinct from thick neck; snout long, slightly pointed, protracted beyond lower jaw, about 1.8 times as long as eye diameter; large, crescentic nostril piercing laterally on central part of nasal; eye average, its diameter about 1.5 times distance between eye-lip, round pupil; tail average, tapering progressively. Measurements. SVL: 197 mm; TaL: 38 mm; TL: 235 mm; ratio TaL / TL: 0.162; HL: 9.05 mm; SnL: 2.85 mm. Dentition. Maxillary teeth: left maxilla with 9 teeth under the formula: 6 subequal teeth + 3 strongly enlarged, blade-like teeth, without diastema. Hemipenis. In situ, the hemipenis is thin, not forked and reaches the 18 th SC; proximal half of the organ spinose, the distal spines slightly shorter; distal half of the organ densely covered with smooth flounces; sulcus spermaticus simple, extending up to the tip of the organ between papillae; two short papillae extend on a length of 2 or 3 SC from the end of the organ. Body scalation. DSR: 15 – 15 – 15 scales, all smooth; scale of the outer dorsal scale row enlarged. 156 VEN (+ 1 preventral); 41 SC, all paired; anal entir

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Pulau Nias, Indonesia

diagnosis

Diagnosis. A species of the genus Oligodon characterized by the combination of: (1) 9 maxillary teeth, the last three strongly enlarged; (2) hemipenes not forked, thin and long, reaching 18 th SC, covered with spines basally and flounces distally; (3) 15 – 15 – 15 DSR; (4) anal plate entire, (5) internasals and loreals present; (6) 7 supralabials, 3 rd – 4 th entering orbit; (7) dorsal pattern made of 14 narrow, white crossbars on the body and 4 on the tail, alternating with three irregular white reticulations; and (7) venter heavily covered with subrectangular dark brown blotches.

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Pulau Nias, Indonesia

distribution

Distribution. Oligodon wagneri sp. nov. is known only from the type locality in Nias Island, Nias Archipelago, off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, without precise locality data. We considered the possibility of an erroneous type locality. The type specimen was collected by Mr Jules Claine (1856 – 1938), a French diplomat and traveller, and an accomplished photographer. He travelled extensively in Sumatra, Singapore, Pinang Island and West Malaysia in 1889 - 1890. A description of his trips in Malaysia can be found in Claine (1892). Claine became the French consul in Puerto Rico in 1892 and seemingly never visited again the Indo-Malayan Region. There is no mention of a visit in Nias Island in Claine (1892) but the collection deposited in the Paris Museum of Natural History on July 23 rd, 1891 contains 15 specimens of reptile species indeed present in Nias or in the adjacent part of Sumatra, plus the holotype of O. wagneri sp. nov. There remains a possibility that some of these specimens may have been collected on Penang Island, off the west coast of West Malaysia. Nevertheless, the characters of O. wagneri sp. nov. do not agree with any known species from West Malaysia. Natura

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Pulau Nias, Indonesia

etymology

Etymology. This new species is named in honour of Mr. Frederick W. Wagner, who noticed the distinct specific status of this new species and for his contribution to the systematics of the genus Oligodon. Although unpublished, his works (Wagner 1975, 1976) are good bases to the taxonomy of this difficult genus. As common names, we suggest Wagner’s kukri Snake (English), Oligodon de Wagner (French), Wagners Kukrinatter (German) and Kepel Nias (Bahasa Indonesia).

A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Pulau Nias, Indonesia