Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2016-07-20
Page range: 261–273
Abstract views: 239
PDF downloaded: 2

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

Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 85 Tran Quoc Toan St., Dist. 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 85 Tran Quoc Toan St., Dist. 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Con Dao National Park, 29 Vo Thi Sau St., Con Dao Town, Ba Ria–Vung Tau Prov., Vietnam.
Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Canada M5S 2C6.
Reptilia Hon Ba hemipenis Indochina maxillary teeth Oligodon condaoensis sp. nov.

Abstract

We describe a new kukri snake, Oligodon condaoensis sp. nov., from Con Dao Islands, southern Vietnam based on the morphological characters of four specimens. It differs from other congeners by a combination of the following characters: medium size in adults (total length up to 552 mm); 17–17–15 dorsal scale rows; deeply forked hemipenes without spines and papillae, extending to subcaudal 13 or 14; 11–13 maxillary teeth, the posterior three being enlarged; cloacal plate undivided; head scalation complete; nasal divided; presubocular absent; 168–176 ventrals; 33–37 subcaudals; overall dorsal coloration dark gray, faint body stripes present or absent; and ventral coloration cream to dark gray without rectangular blotches. We also provide a list of 43 species of amphibians and terrestrial reptiles recorded from Con Dao Islands.

References

  1. Boulenger, G.A. (1894) Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum. Vol. 2. Colubridae Aglyphae. The Trustees, London, 382 pp + 20 pls.

    Campden-Main, S.M. (1970) A field guide to the snakes of South Vietnam. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 114 pp.

    David, P., Vogel, G. & Pauwels, O.S.G. (2008a) A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from southern Vietnam and Cambodia. Zootaxa, 1939, 19–37.

    David, P., Vogel, G. & Rooijen, J.V. (2008b) A revision of the Oligodon taeniatus (Günther, 1861) group (Squamata: Colubridae), with the description of three new species from the Indochinese region. Zootaxa, 1965, 1–49.

    David, P., Nguyen, T.Q., Nguyen, T.T., Jiang, K., Chen, T., Teynie, A. & Ziegler, T. (2012) A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from northern Vietnam, southern China and central Laos. Zootaxa, 3498, 45–62.

    Darevsky, I.S. (1999) The herpetofauna of some offshore islands of Vietnam, as related to that of the adjacent mainland. In: Ota, H. (Ed.) Tropical Island Herpetofauna: Origin, Current Diversity, and Conservation. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 27–42.

    Fitzinger, L.I. (1826) Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren Natürlichen Verwandtschaften. Nebst einer Verwandtschafts–Tafel und einem verzeichnisse der Reptilien–Sammlung des K. K. Zoologischen Museum’s zu Wien. J. G. Heubner, Wien, Vii + 66 pp.

    Green, M.D., Orlov, N.L. & Murphy, R.W. (2010) Toward a phylogeny of the kukri snakes, genus Oligodon. Asian Herpetological Research, 1, 1–21.

    Honda, M., Ota, H., Hikida, T. & Darevsky, I.S. (2001) A new species of the worm-like lizard, Dibamus Dumeril & Bibron 1839 (Squamata: Scincidae), from Vietnam. Tropical Zoology, 14, 119–125.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03946975.2001.10531146

    Le, T. (2004) Geography of provinces and cities in Vietnam. Vol. 5. Provinces and cities in south Central and southeast. Giao Duc, Ho Chi Minh, 416 pp. [in Vietnamese]

    Leong, T.M. & Grismer, L.L. (2004) A new species of kukri snake, Oligodon (Colubridae) from Pulau Tioman, West Malaysia. Asiatic Herpetological Research, 10, 12–16.

    Neang, T., Grismer, L.L. & Daltry, J.C. (2012) A new species of kukri snake (Colubridae: Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826) from the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Cardamom Mountains, southwest Cambodia. Zootaxa, 3388, 41–55.

    Nguyen, S.V., Ho, C.T. & Nguyen, T.Q. (2009) Herpetofauna of Vietnam. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, 768 pp.

    Pope, C.H. (1935) The Reptiles of China. The American Museum of Natural History, New York, 604 pp.

    Smith, M.A. (1921) Reptiles and batrachians collected on Pulo Condore. Journal of the Natural History Society of Siam, 4, 93–97.

    Smith, M.A. (1943) The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the Indo-Chinese subregion. Reptiles and Amphibians. Vol. III. Serpentes. Taylor and Francis Ltd, London, 525 pp.

    Strauch, A. (1887) Bemerkungen über die Geckoniden-Sammlung im zoologischen Museum der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St.-Petersburg. Memoires de L’Academie Imperiale des Sciences de St.-Petersbourg, Serie VII, 35, 1–72.

    Vassilieva, A.B. (2015) A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from coastal southern Vietnam. Zootaxa, 4058 (2), 211–226.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4058.2.4

    Vassilieva, A.B., Geissler, P., Galoyan, E.A., Poyarkov, N.A., van Devender, R.W. & Bohme, W. (2013) A new species of kukri snake (Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826; Squamata: Colubridae) from the Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam. Zootaxa, 3702 (3), 233–246.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3702.3.2

    Uetz, P. & Hosek, L. (Eds.) (2015) The Reptile Database. Available from: http://www.reptile-database.org/ (accessed 3 March 2016)