Oligodon condaoensis

description

Description of holotype. Adult male; body robust, rather elongate; SVL 461 mm; tail quite short (TL / SVL = 0.15) and robust, 70 mm in length; head short (HL / SVL = 0.04), faintly distinct from neck; eye small (ED / HH = 0.35) with round pupil, eye diameter equal to distance between eye and nostril; snout obtuse; large oval nostril piercing the upper part of nasal. Head scalation. Rostral high 3.37 mm, wide 3.57 mm, thick and curved on to upper snout surface, well visible from above, pointed posteriorly, touching internasals, nasals, and first supralabial on each side; supralabials 8 / 8, the 4 th and 5 th bordering eye, the 7 th being largest; 1 / 1 loreal; presubocular absent; nasal divided vertically; 1 / 1 preocular; 2 / 2 postoculars; 1 + 2 / 1 + 2 temporals, anterior one elongated; prefrontal large, somewhat hexagonal, wider than long; frontal large and pentagonal, slightly longer than wide; parietals larger than frontals, bordered laterally by the first and the upper second temporals and posteriorly by four small scales; 8 / 8 infralabials, fist pair medially in contact with each other, first four InLs in contact with anterior chin shield, the 5 th largest and touching post

A new species of kukri snake (Squamata: Colubridae: Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826) from Con Dao Islands, southern Vietnam

description

For members of the O. dorsalis group (Smith 1943, Vassilieva 2015), which includes O. catenatus (Blyth), O. dorsalis (Gray & Hardwicke), O. eberhardti Pellegrin, O. erythrogaster Boulenger, O. hamptoni Boulenger, O. lacroixi Angel & Bourret, and O. macdougalli Wall, O condaoensis sp. nov. differs from O. catenatus, O. dorsalis, O. eberhardti, O. erythrogaster, and O. hamptoni, by having deeply a forked hemipenis (vs. unforked or slightly forked) and an entire cloacal plate (vs. divided). It also differs from O. catenatus by having more dorsal scale rows at midbody (17 vs. 13), more maxillary teeth (11 – 13 vs. 7), and fewer ventrals (168 – 176 vs. 186 – 208); from O. dorsalis by having more dorsal scale rows at midbody (17 vs. 15) and more maxillary teeth (11 – 13 vs. 6 – 7); from O. eberhardti by having more dorsal scale rows (17 – 17 – 15 vs. 13 – 13 – 13), more supralabials (8 vs. 6), and fewer ventrals (168 – 176 vs. 189 – 190); from O. erythrogaster by having more maxillary teeth (11 – 13 vs. 7 – 8) and fewer subcaudals (33 – 37 vs. 42 – 59); and from O. hamptoni by having more scale rows at midbody (17 vs. 15), and more maxillary teeth (11 – 13 vs. 7) and more subralabials (8

A new species of kukri snake (Squamata: Colubridae: Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826) from Con Dao Islands, southern Vietnam

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Oligodon condaoensis sp. nov. is distinguished from all of its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) medium size in adults (total length up to 552 mm); (2) dorsal scale rows 17 – 17 – 15; (3) deeply forked hemipenes without papillae and spines, extending to SC 13 or 14; (4) maxillary teeth 11 – 13, the posterior three being enlarged; (5) cloacal plate undivided; (6) head scalation complete; (7) nasal divided; (8) presubocular absent; (9) ventrals 168 – 176; (10) subcaudals 33 – 37; (11) overall dorsal coloration dark gray, faint body stripes present or absent; (12) venter cream to dark gray without rectangular blotches.

A new species of kukri snake (Squamata: Colubridae: Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826) from Con Dao Islands, southern Vietnam

distribution

Distribution. The new species is currently known only from Hon Ba Island, Con Dao District, Ba Ria – Vung Tau Prov., Vietnam.

A new species of kukri snake (Squamata: Colubridae: Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826) from Con Dao Islands, southern Vietnam