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| Oligodon melaneus Wall, 1909 in Das, Gower, Narayanan, Pal, ... et Deepak, 2022. |
Abstract
We report the rediscovery of Oligodon melaneus 112 years after its original description and document the third, and only non-type, specimen for the species. The new specimen was found 267 km east of the type locality (Tindharia, West Bengal state) from Assam state, India. We designate a lectotype for the species, and provide an extended description of a freshly collected male specimen. Phylogenetic analyses of 16s and cytb mitochondrial genes provide support for O. melaneus being closely related to the widespread South Asian endemic O. arnensis.
Keywords: Reptilia, Colubridae, Northeast India, phylogeny, rediscovery, Reptilia Serpentes, systematics, taxonomy
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| Newly reported, roadkill specimen of Oligodon melaneus (WII-ADR980) photographed soon after collection. (A)dorsal view, (B) ventral view, (C) left lateral view of head, (D) ventrolateral aspect of midbody and (E) ventrolateral aspect of subcaudals. Images not to scale. |
Oligodon melaneus Wall, 1909
Abhijit Das, David J. Gower, Surya Narayanan, Saunak Pal, Bitupan Boruah, Sanjay Magar, Sanjib Das, Soumabrata Moulick and V. Deepak. 2022. Rediscovery and Systematics of the rarely encountered Blue-bellied Kukri Snake (Oligodon melaneus Wall, 1909) from Assam, India. Zootaxa. 5138(4); 417-430. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5138.4.4
