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Based on combined morphological and osteological characters and molecular phylogenetics, we describe a new species of the genus Elaphe that was discovered from the south slope of the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, China, namely Elaphe xiphodontasp. nov. It is distinguished from the other congeners by a combination of the following characters: dorsal scales in 21-21-17 rows, the medial 11 rows keeled; 202–204 ventral scales, 67–68 subcaudals; two preoculars (including one subpreocular); two postoculars; two anterior temporals, three posterior temporals; reduced numbers of maxillary teeth (9+2) and dentary teeth (12); sharp cutting edges on the posterior or posterolateral surface of the rear maxillary teeth and dentary teeth; dorsal head yellow, three distinct markings on the head and neck; a distinct black labial spot present in supralabials; dorsum yellow, 46–49 complete (or incomplete) large black-edged reddish brown blotches on the body and 12–19 on the tail, two rows of smaller blotches on each ventrolateral side; ventral scales yellow with mottled irregular black blotches, a few irregular small red spots dispersed on the middle of the ventral. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, the new species forms the sister taxon to E. zoigeensis. The discovery of this new species increases the number of the recognized species in the genus Elaphe to 17.

A new species of colubrid snake,Lycodon cathayasp. nov., is described based on two adult male specimens collected from Huaping Nature Reserve, Guangxi, southern China. In a phylogenetic analyses, the new species is shown to be a sister taxon to the clade composed ofL. futsingensisandL. namdongensiswith low statistical support, and can be distinguished from all known congeners by the significant genetic divergence in the mitochondrial cytochromebgene fragment (p-distance ≥ 7.9%), and morphologically by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scales in 17–17–15 rows, smooth throughout; (2) supralabials eight, third to fifth in contact with eye, infralabials nine; (3) ventral scales 199–200 (plus two preventral scales), subcaudals 78; (4) loreal single, elongated, in contact with eye or not, not in contact with internasals; (5) a single preocular not in contact with frontal, supraocular in contact with prefrontal, two postoculars; (6) maxillary teeth 10 (4+2+2+2); (7) two anterior temporals, three posterior temporals; (8) precloacal plate entire; (9) ground color from head to tail brownish black, with 31–35 dusty rose bands on body trunk, 13–16 on tail; (10) bands in 1–2 vertebral scales broad in minimum width; (11) bands separate ground color into brownish black ellipse patches arranged in a row along the top of body and tail; (12) elliptical patches in 3–6 scales of the vertebral row in maximum width; (13) ventral surface of body with wide brownish black strip, margined with a pair of continuous narrow greyish white ventrolateral lines. With the description of the new species, 64 congeners are currently known in the genusLycodon, with 16 species occurring in China.

Based on combined morphological and osteological characters and molecular phylogenetics, we describe a new species of the genus Elaphe that was discovered from the south slope of the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, China, namely Elaphe xiphodontasp. nov. It is distinguished from the other congeners by a combination of the following characters: dorsal scales in 21-21-17 rows, the medial 11 rows keeled; 202–204 ventral scales, 67–68 subcaudals; two preoculars (including one subpreocular); two postoculars; two anterior temporals, three posterior temporals; reduced numbers of maxillary teeth (9+2) and dentary teeth (12); sharp cutting edges on the posterior or posterolateral surface of the rear maxillary teeth and dentary teeth; dorsal head yellow, three distinct markings on the head and neck; a distinct black labial spot present in supralabials; dorsum yellow, 46–49 complete (or incomplete) large black-edged reddish brown blotches on the body and 12–19 on the tail, two rows of smaller blotches on each ventrolateral side; ventral scales yellow with mottled irregular black blotches, a few irregular small red spots dispersed on the middle of the ventral. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, the new species forms the sister taxon to E. zoigeensis. The discovery of this new species increases the number of the recognized species in the genus Elaphe to 17.

A new species, Takydromus yunkaiensis J. Wang, Lyu, & Y.Y. Wang, sp. nov. is described based on a series of specimens collected from the Yunkaishan Nature Reserve located in the southern Yunkai Mountains, western Guangdong Province, China. The new species is a sister taxon to T. intermedius with a genetic divergence of 8.0–8.5% in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, and differs from all known congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) body size moderate, SVL 37.8–56.0 mm in males, 42.6–60.8 mm in females; (2) dorsal ground color brown; ventral surface green to yellow-green, but light blue-green on chin and throat, posteriorly green in adult males; (3) dorsolateral lines paired, strikingly yellowish-white bordered by black above and below, invisible or indistinct in juveniles and adult females; (4) flanks of body blackish brown with light brown marks in adult males; (5) presence of four pairs of chin-shields; (6) four supraoculars on each side; (7) presence of a row of supracilary granules that separate supracilaries from supraoculars; (8) two postnasals; (9) enlarged dorsal scales in six longitudinal rows on trunk of body, with strong keel; (10) enlarged ventral scales in six longitudinal rows, strongly keeled in males, smooth but outermost rows weakly keeled in females; (11) enlarged and keeled lateral scales in a row above ventrals; (12) femoral pores 2–3 on each side; (13) subdigital lamellae 20–23 under the fourth finger, 23–30 under the fourth toe; and (14) the first 2–3 subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe divided. The discovery of Takydromus yunkaiensissp. nov. brings the total number of species of this genus to 24, of which nine occur in mainland China.

The previous descriptions of Opisthotropis maxwelli Boulenger, 1914 and O. andersonii (Boulenger, 1888) were considered imperfect due to the limited number of specimens. This may in turn cause a problem for accurate species identification. In our study, the species boundaries of these two species were investigated using an integrative approach incorporating morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial Cyt b gene of 26 specimens of nine known Opisthotropis species collected from south-eastern China. Our results surprisingly revealed a new cryptic species, Opisthotropis shenzhenensis sp. nov., from Shenzhen and Dongguan, Guangdong Province, southern China. Further, we re-described O. maxwelli based on several specimens from Fujian and Guangdong, and O. andersonii based on a series of specimens from Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, China. We provide an updated identification key to all described Opisthotropis species from China.