Lycodon gongshan Vogel & Luo 2011
Year: 2025
Type: other
Abstract: Redescription of Lycodon gongshan Vogel & Luo, 2011 (Figs. 5G–I, 6E–F, 7C, 8, Appendix Fig. S2; Table 1, Appendix Table S4) Referred specimens (n = 13). China: Sichuan Province — CIB DL.055 (subadult male; formerly R20140901 in Chen et al. 2018) from the Daheishan Forest Park, Panzhihua City (26.640800ºN, 101.695200ºE; altitude 2173 meters asl.) collected by L. Ding; CIB PZH.2017.09.01 (adult male) from Hongbao Miao and Yi Township, Yanbian County, Panzhihua City (27.125400ºN, 101.491900ºE; altitude 1517 meters asl.); Xizang AR—CIB 7557 (adult male) from Chawalong Township, Zayu County (28.485833ºN, 98.455833ºE; altitude 1981 meters asl.); Yunnan Province — CAS 241963 (adult male; field no. GLGS-2992) ca. 3 km N of hotel (Kongdang) on Dulong Road, Kongdang Village, Gongshan County (27.896833ºN, 98.338667ºE; altitude 1540 meters asl.) collected on 6 Jul 2005 by D.-Q. Rao, M.W. Zhang, J.V. Vindum, and J.A. Wilkinson; CAS 242669 (subadult female) from N of Kongdang, Kongdang-Gougshan road, Dulong Valley, Gongshan County (27.881250ºN, 98.342889ºE; altitude 1600 meters asl.) collected on 7 Sep 2007 by M.W. Zhang, J.V. Vindum and J.A. Wilkinson; CIB YN.2019.09.189 and CIB YN.2019.09.286 (both adult males) from Luzhang Town, Lushui City (25.951389ºN, 98.768611ºE; altitude 2006 meters asl.) collected by S.-C. Shi (see details in Huang et al. 2021); HNU 200505002 (adult female) from Xiaoheishan, Longjiang Township, Longling County (Baoshan City) collected by Y. Hengmei, L. Hongbin and G. Keji (paratype); HNU 200609001 (adult male) from Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan County collected by Q. Hou (paratype); KIZ 730034 (adult male), KIZ 35112 (adult female) and KIZ 730008 (immature male) from “ Bapo, Gongshan, China ” [= Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan County], collectors unknown (holotype and paratypes, respectively; see details in Vogel and Luo 2011). Myanmar: Kachin State — CAS 245470 (subadult male; field no. CAS-MHS-29011) from Lukpwi Village, Chipwe Township, Myitkyina District, Kachin State (25.701333ºN, 98.336083ºE; altitude 1845 meters asl.) collected on 1 Aug 2009 by M. Hlaing, S.L. Oo, Z.H. Aung, K.S. Lwin, and Y.M. Win. Revised diagnosis. A large-sized Lycodon with a maximum total length of 1,005 mm (longest specimen without broken tail 963 mm); relative tail length 0.21–0.27; dorsal scale rows 17–17–15, first 5–9 upper dorsal scale rows keeled at midbody and posteriorly, remaining rows smooth; ventrals 203–216; subcaudals 79–96, paired; cloacal plate undivided; supralabials usually eight (rarely nine) with third to fifth scales contacting eye; infralabials usually eight (rarely nine), the first four (rarely five) in contact with anterior pair of chin shields; preocular 1/1, blocking prefrontals from contacting eye; loreal usually in narrow contact with eye; postoculars 2/2; temporals 2+2 (rarely 2+3). Dorsum variable, typical morph black in life with 26–46 orange brown or reddish brown light crossbands, 9–16 tail crossbands; first dorsal band starting between ventrals 4–9, 3–6 ventral scales long at base and 1–2 vertebral dorsal scales long; head usually plain black dorsally, occasionally indistinct light brown pigment present on supralabials below eye; underside of head black along chin; throat usually also black but occasionally plain white; venter with discrete light and dark crossbands throughout, spotting rarely present. Second color morph (known only from Zayu County, Xizang AR) olive brown dorsally with frequent yellow or light brown mottling along edges of dorsal scales and 67 indistinct shaped black body crossbands and 28 black tail crossbands; head dark brown dorsally, supralabials beige, underside of head black along chin but throat light cream; ventral surface with array of irregular and subdued dark crossbands and midventral spotting (based on Vogel & Luo 2011; Chen et al. 2018; Huang et al. 2021; and this study). General description and variation. Based on thirteen specimens (including the type series; holotype + three paratypes). The longest specimen is an adult female (KIZ 35112; SVL 798 mm, TaL 207 mm but partially broken). The longest male specimen is the holotype (KIZ 730034; SVL 740 mm, TaL 223 mm), which also happens to be the longest specimen with a complete tail. Ratio TaL/TL 0.21–0.27 (x̄ = 0.23±0.02; n = 10). Body elongate, tail gracile, terminal scute blunt ended. Head ovate in adults, more oblong in juveniles, distinct from neck, temporal and parietal region same height as rest of head. Snout obtuse, slightly depressed in lateral profile, no canthus rostralis. Nostrils large, rounded, positioned medially within nasal. Eyes moderate, pupil elliptical. No sexual dimorphism evident in body or head proportions. Body scalation. Dorsal scales in 17-17-15 rows. Most specimens have entirely keeled scales except for the outermost five rows (which are smooth) at midbody and posteriorly. However, a specimen from Kachin State, Myanmar (CAS 245470) has four smooth rows at midbody and two posteriorly, and one specimen from Panzhihua, Sichuan Province (CIB DL.055) has three smooth rows posteriorly. Ventral scales 203–216 (x̄ = 210.7±3.4; n = 13), with distinct keeling along edges of each scale, less distinct in one of the Panzhihua specimens (CIB DL.055). Subcaudals 79–96 (x̄ = 88.4±6.5; n = 10), paired. Total body scales 286–312 (x̄ = 300.1±8.9; n = 10), subcaudal ratio 0.27–0.31 (x̄ = 0.29±0.01; n = 10). Sexual dimorphism absent in all body scale counts. Dentition. In two specimens (CAS 241963 and 245470), maxillary tooth counts range from 9–11. There are four or five anterior teeth that gradually increase in size, followed by one larger tooth and four to six smaller teeth, each separated by a diastema. Description of hemipenis. Partially everted hemipenis of CAS 241963 is short (Fig. 7C), weakly bilobed, spinose. Images of the hemipenes of CIB 07557 in Huang et al. (2021) depict a weakly bilobed organ with each lobe slightly bulbous in shape. Minute spinous calyces present at the base of organ in both asulcate and sulcate views. Medially, two or three rows of slightly enlarged spines present, hook-like in shape, less prevalent on the sulcate side of organ and largely continuous with base. Remaining distal two-thirds of organ covered with small spinous and papillate shaped calyces, equally sized. Sulcus spermaticus simple, arranged centripetally. In CIB 07557 the apex is less spinose along the crotch near each lobe in sulcate view. Sulcus lips nude, broad, distinctly raised in CAS 241963 (see Fig. 7C), but less pronounced in CIB 07557. Head scalation. Rostral wider than high, barely visible from above. Posterior suture of rostral bordering internasals obtuse angled, ‘gull-wing’ shaped (~146–163º). Nasal scale vertically divided by indistinct suture above and below nostril, in contact with internasal, loreal, prefrontal, rostral and first two supralabials. Anterior portion of nasal smaller than posterior, each segment higher than long and subpentagonal. Internasals paired, rectangular, anterior edges concave, entire scale 1.1–1.9 times wider than long, 1.3–2.5 times wider than medial suture; each internasal contacting rostral, nasal and prefrontal. Prefrontals paired, subrectangular, area 2.6–3.6 times larger than internasals, entire scale 0.8–1.1 time longer than wide. Medial prefrontal suture usually shorter than prefrontal width (0.8–1.0 times longer than wide), roughly equal (1.0 times) in CAS 241963 and CAS 242669; each prefrontal contacting internasals, nasals, loreal, supraoculars, and frontal. Supraoculars paired, subrectangular, 1.6–2.0 times longer than wide, posterior end 1.3–1.9 times wider than anterior end. Frontal small, hexagonal, shield shaped, 1.1– 1.2 times longer than wide, 1.6–2.1 times longer than prefrontal suture. Anterior frontal edge positioned past eyes in all specimens; posterior vertex of frontal bordering parietals usually acute angled (~80–96º). Parietals paired, entire scale 1.8–2.3 times longer than wide, medial parietal suture 1.2–1.7 times longer than wide, its length 0.8–1.2 times as long as entire length of frontal. Anterior edge of parietal straightened, its suture with frontal and supraoculars forming an obtuse angle (~122–133º) that is, usually pointed laterally, though the angle is posterolaterally directed in CAS 242669 and KIZ 730038. Parietals surrounded by 10–12 total scales behind upper postoculars. Loreal 1/1, subrectangular, longer than high, in narrow contact with eye on either side but blocked from contacting eye in both specimens from Panzhihua (CIB DL.055 and PZH. 2017.09.01). Preocular 1/1, vertical, subrectangular. No presubocular or subocular. Postoculars 2/2, vertical, subrectangular, each scale approximately equal in size. Temporals normally 2+2, but 2+ 3 in three of the paratypes (KIZ 730008, HNU 200609001 and HNU 200505002), and 2+2/2+ 3 in the holotype (KIZ 730034), lowermost anterior temporal largest. A single paraparietal scale present behind the posterior temporal row in all specimens (except for CAS 245470, in which the scale is fused with the uppermost posterior temporal). Each paraparietal surrounded by 6–8 scales (6/ 6 in CAS 242669, CIB DL.055 and PZH. 2017.09.01; 6/ 7 in CAS 245470; 7/ 7 in 241963; 6/ 8 in KIZ 730034; 8/ 8 in HNU 200609001 and KIZ 730008) with 3–5 scales located below them (3/ 3 in HNU 200609001 and KIZ 730008; 4/ 4 in CAS 241963, CIB DL.055, CIB PZH. 2017.09.01 and HNU 2005.05.002; 5/ 5 in remaining specimens). Supralabials 8/8, first and second contacting nasal, second and third contacting loreal, and third to fifth contacting eye; sixth supralabial normally largest, but sixth and seventh scales occasionally equal in size; first supralabial smallest. Infralabials normally 8/8 (8/ 9 in CAS 245470; 9/8 CAS 241963; 9/ 9 in CIB 7557); infralabials 1–4 in contact with the anterior chin shields (except in CAS 245470, which has 4/5 infralabials in contact), 5–6 contacting posterior chin shields. Mental subtriangular i
Authors: Nguyen, Tan Van, Lee, Justin L., Jiang, Ke, Ding, Li, Chit, May Thu, Poyarkov, Nikolay A., Vogel, Gernot
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6968522337
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: