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| Lycodon deccanensis Ganesh, Deuti, Punith, Achyuthan, Mallik, Adhikari & Vogel, 2020 facebook.com: Ashok Kumar Mallik |
Abstract
A new species of wolf snake, Lycodon deccanensis sp. nov., is described from southern India, from
the hill ranges situated in the Deccan Plateau adjacent to the Southern Eastern Ghats and the Mysore uplands.
The new species somewhat resembles, and has previously been confused with, another predominantly wetzone taxon Lycodon travancoricus. The new species can be diagnosed by the following combination of
characters: dorsal scale rows 16–17:17:15; usually 9 supralabials; ventrals 181–201; subcaudals 68–74, divided;
an undivided anal scale; loreal in contact with internasal; nasal not in contact with prefrontal, separated by
loreal-internasal contact; supraocular usually contacting prefrontal; preocular usually not contacting frontal;
and a dorsum that is brownish in adults and blackish in juveniles, with white cross bars. Some previous
records of Lycodon travancoricus (sic) from outside the Western Ghats represented the new species, while
others were re-identifed as L. aulicus and L. anamallensis, effectively restricting the range of L. tarvancoricus
to the Western Ghats and Southern Eastern Ghats.
Keywords: Coloration, Deccan plateau, Lycodon deccanensis sp. nov., Reptilia, scalation, South Arcot, Tumkur
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| Fig. 1. Lycodon deccanensis sp. nov. in life: (a) entire, dorsolateral view; (b–d) head profles of a live uncollected specimen from Devarayana Durga; (e–f) live uncollected adult and juvenile from Melagiri, showing ontogenic color shift. Photos by K.G. Punith, M.V. Shreeram, and S.R.Ganesh. |
Lycodon deccanensis sp. nov.
Lycodon travancoricus (nec Beddome, 1870) – Sclater
1891 part.
Lycodon sp. – Ganesh et al. (2018, 2020b).
Etymology: Toponym, named after its region of
occurrence – the Deccan plateau, a raised table land
of late Cretaceous origin, situated between the Eastern
Ghats and the Western Ghats of the Indian peninsula.
Diagnosis: A species of Lycodon inhabiting the Deccan
plateau of India, characterized by: small size (total
length < 470 mm); scales smooth, in 16–17:17:15 rows,
without apical pits; usually 9 supralabials (10, in one
case); ventrals 181–201 (n = 9) angulate laterally; anal
plate undivided; subcaudals 68–78 (84; n = 8), paired;
loreal in contact with internasal, separate from eye;
nasal not in contact with prefrontal; anterior pair of
genials subequal to posterior pair; supraocular usually
contacting prefrontal; preocular usually not contacting frontal (preocular separating frontal, prefrontal, and
supraocular in one case); dorsum brown in adults and
black in juveniles, with white cross bars.
Due to the slender body and smaller head, the
new species superfcially resembles the genus
Dryocalamus, its higher midbody scale rows (17)
and lower ventral counts (181–201; avg. 190; n = 9)
[vs. rows 13–15; ventrals 200+ in Dryocalamus, see
Smith 1943] clearly indicate this species belongs to
the genus Lycodon, even if Dryocalamus is regarded
as a valid genus.
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| Fig. 3. Map showing the type locality and distribution records of Lycodon deccanensis sp. nov. Type locality (Devarayana Durga) marked with a red dot. |
Distribution and natural history. Based on the specimens
observed in situ during feldwork, this species appears to
inhabit mid- to higher elevations (> 600 m asl), and hilly
forest tracts in the Deccan plateau, such as the taller isolated
peaks in the Eastern Ghats and the Mysore uplands. The
two examined specimens in museum collections (ZSI
and SACON), come from near South Arcot (ca. 11.77°N,
78.75°E; 850 m asl) and Anaikatti (11.092°N, 76.778°E;
670 m asl), respectively. Though the exact place names
given on the jar labels of these specimens furnish coarselevel geographic data, the places are always associated
with the presence of hills nearby (see Ganesh et al. 2018),
attesting to its affnity for the hills.
...
S.R. Ganesh, Kaushik Deuti, K.G. Punith, N.S. Achyuthan, Ashok Kumar Mallik, Omkar Adhikari and Gernot Vogel. 2020. A New Species of Lycodon (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Deccan Plateau of India, with notes on the range of Lycodon travancoricus (Beddome, 1870) and A Revised Key to peninsular Indian forms. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation. 14(3) [Taxonomy Section]: 74–83 (e256).
