A New Species Of &lt;i&gt;Dendrelaphis&lt;/i&gt; (Serpentes: Colubridae) From The Western Ghats - India

Gernot Vogel,Johan Van Roiijen

doi:10.4038/tapro.v3i2.3963

A New Species Of <i>Dendrelaphis</i> (Serpentes: Colubridae) From The Western Ghats - India

Gernot Vogel, Johan Van Roiijen

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4038/tapro.v3i2.3963

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Abstract

A new species of the colubrid genus Dendrelaphis Boulenger 1890 is described from the Western Ghats, India. Dendrelaphis girii sp. nov. resembles Dendrelaphis bifrenalis (Boulenger, 1890) which inhabits Sri Lanka. It differs from the latter predominantly in the absence of a ventrolateral stripe, the much narrower and shorter postocular stripe and the broader snout. The description of D. girii sp. nov. underscores the notion that Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats are faunally more distinct than previously thought. Key Words : Dendrelaphis girii sp. nov.; Dendrelaphis bifrenalis; taxonomy; reptilia; Sri Lanka DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tapro.v3i2.3963 TAPROBANICA 2011; 3(2): 77-85

Highlights

The colubrid snakes of the genus Dendrelaphis Boulenger, 1890 are widely distributed, ranging from Pakistan in the West to the northern and eastern coast of Australia in the East and South and to southern China in the North (Ziegler & Vogel, 1999)
The most important differences are the lower number of gular scales, the broader snout, the narrower postocular stripe and the rudimentary ventrolateral stripe in D. girii sp. nov
The common ancestor of both species dispersed across the land bridge between India and Sri Lanka that came into existence due to Pleistocene lowering of sea levels (e.g. Voris, 2000; Pethiyagoda, 2005)

Summary

Introduction

The colubrid snakes of the genus Dendrelaphis Boulenger, 1890 are widely distributed, ranging from Pakistan in the West to the northern and eastern coast of Australia in the East and South and to southern China in the North (Ziegler & Vogel, 1999). In 1858, Günther recorded a specimen of the genus Dendrelaphis with two loreal shields. Boulenger later described the form represented by Günther’s specimen as Dendrophis bifrenalis (1890) on the basis of three syntypes. Four years later he elaborated on his initial description on the basis of the same three specimens (Boulenger, 1894). At some point, this species has again been regarded as a subspecies of Dendrelaphis pictus (Meise & Henning, 1932; Mertens, 1934)

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