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Ahaetulla flavescens (Wall, 1910) comb. nov. Figs 1–9; Tables 2–5 Dryophis prasinus flavescens Wall, 1910: 834. Dryophis prasinus indicus Mell, 1931: 119–219. (by implication). Dryophis prasina – Günther 1858: 159 (part). Tragops prasinus – Günther 1864: 364. — Theobald 1876: 191. Dryophis prasinus – Boulenger 1890: 369; 1896: 180 (part). Dryophis prasinus ‘forma typica’ (non H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827) – Wall 1909a: 354; 1909b: 898; 1910: 834. Dryophis prasinus flavescens (nec Smith, 1914) – Wall 1910: 834. Differential diagnosis A species of Ahaetulla inhabiting Northeast India, defined by the following combination of characters: dorsal scales in 15:15:11–13 smooth rows (vs 13 midbody rows of keeled scales in Proahaetulla Link, 1807); rostral appendage absent (vs present in the A. nasuta group and A. pulverulenta groups); presence of a pair of white ventrolateral stripes throughout the body (vs absence of ventrolateral stripes in the A.pulverulenta group); dorsum usually greenish (vs usually brownish in both sexes in the A. pulverulenta and A. laudankia groups; usually brown in females, in A. anomala (Annandale, 1906), A. perrotetii (Duméril & Bibron, 1854), A. dispar (Günther, 1864) and A. travancorica Mallik, Srikanthan, Pal, D’Souza, Shanker & Ganesh, 2020); crown uniform and unpatterned (vs crown with black markings and reticulations in A. anomala, A. laudankia Deepak, Narayanan, Sarkar, Dutta & Mohapatra, 2019 and A. fasciolata); ventrals 194–200 (vs A. nasuta and A. pulverulenta groups); subcaudals 155–168 (vs A. perrotetii, A. dispar and A. travancorica); cloacal scale paired (vs entire in A. mycterizans and A. fasciolata); supralabials entire (vs 3 rd –4 th supralabials horizontally divided in A. fronticincta); nasals not in contact with one another (vs in contact with one another above rostral in A. fronticincta); upper snout surface flat to mildly depressed (vs convex in A. mycterizans); 8.2–10% divergent in ND4 and 6.5–9.5% in Cytb gene from the SE Asian populations of A. prasina sensu lato. Etymology A Latin adjective, derived from Latin verb ‘ flavesco / flavescre ’, meaning ‘turning to yellow’ / ‘becoming yellow’, referring to the yellowish colouration of the type specimens in life (see Wall 1910). Type material Lectotype (designated herein) INDIA • ♀; “ Lakimpur, Assam, Northeast India ”; 27°13′40.8″ N, 94°6′28.8″ E; unknown date; Maj. F. Wall leg.; NHMUK (= BMNH) 1908.6.23.58. Paralectotype INDIA • ♀; same collection data as for lectotype; NHMUK (= BMNH) 1908.6.23.59. Other examined material (2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀) INDIA – Meghalaya • 1 ♀; Shillong; unknown date; maj. F. Wall leg.; BNHS 1975 (green dorsum); BNHS • 1 ♂; Tura, Garo Hills; unknown date; H.W. Wells; BNHS 1978 (green dorsum); BNHS. – Assam • 1 ♂; North Lakimpur; unknown date; maj. F. Wall leg.; BNHS 1976 (buff dorsum); BNHS. – Arunachal Pradesh • 1 ♀; Janakamukh, Abor Hills; 10 Jun. 1912; 32, Sikh pioneers of Indian Museum; BNHS 1979 (green dorsum); BNHS. Description Lectotype (Figs 3, 5) MEASUREMENTS (in mm). Body elongated, tapering anteriorly and posteriorly, slightly compressed laterally, slightly narrower at mid-body, mid-body width 7.5, flatter on ventral side. Total length 1335.0; snout to vent length 840.0. Head wider than the neck, head length 27.5, elongated anteriorly; slightly wider, head width 13.2; slightly depressed, head depth 11.6. Eyes lateral, circular in shape with oval with horizontal pupil; horizontal eye diameter 5.1 and vertical eye diameter 3.7; interorbital distance 7.4. Snout acuminate, canthus rostralis prominent; eye to snout distance 11.6, sub-equal to head width; eye to nostrils distance 8.0, inter-narial distance 5.4. Tail elongated, complete, tail length 495.0, relative tail length 37.0%. SCALATION. Dorsal scales smooth, without any keels; dorsal scales are generally even-sized, comparatively smaller which are close to vent and the anterior end of body. Paravertebral scales broader than other dorsal scale rows, with rounded posterior margin.Anterior scale rows 15 (on neck): mid-body scale rows 15 (at mid-body): posterior scale rows 13 (near vent), arranged in oblique series. Ventrals 206, angulate laterally, preventrals 3; cloacal scales slightly enlarged, paired; subcaudals 168, pairs. Rostral deep and wider at its base; distinctly visible and narrowly grooved in dorsal aspect, without nasal appendage, projects beyond tip of lower jaw when viewed from below. Nasal slightly elongated, laterally oriented, contacting anteriorly with the rostrum on each side. Nostrils distinct, rounded, laterally oriented, situated on posterior surface of the nasal scale on each side. Internasals paired, contacting each other at midline, anteriorly contacting rostral, posteriorly contacting prefrontal and contacting nasal laterally on each side. Loreals two, subequal in size, anterior set of loreals contacting internasals on both sides, posterior loreal contacting anterior on right side. On left side, posterior loreal separated from anterior by 2 nd, 3 rd supralabials and lower edge of prefrontal contact. Supraocular single, enlarged, broader posteriorly, roughly triangular in dorsal aspect on each side. Preocular single, broad, reaching upper surface of head and contacting prefrontal and frontal on each side; on anterior side contacting the posterior parts of loreals. Fourth supralabial divided horizontally (Fig. 5). Postoculars two, upper one larger in size, contacting supraocular above and lower postocular below; lower postocular contacting 6 th supralabial below on each side. Prefrontal paired, roughly rectangular in shape, contacting frontal posteriorly. Frontal single, roughly bell-shaped, situated in middle of two supraoculars, contacting parietal scales posteriorly. Parietal scales paired, large, much wider, roughly pointed posteriorly and sub-equal to supraocular scales in size. Each parietal scale, anteriorly contacting supraocular, fairly touching upper postocular, laterally in contact with upper temporals, posteriorly in contact with three small scales on each side. Temporals 2+2 on both sides; posterior set contacting three comparatively large sized scales on both sides. Supralabials 9 on both sides, 4 th –6 th contacting the eye and 7 th being the largest. Mental small, much wider than long, subtriangular in shape, wedged between 1 st pair of infralabials. Two pairs of genials; anterior set sub-equal to posterior set; both longer than broad; both pairs are in long midline contact. Infralabials 9, 11; 1 st infralabial on each side elongate compared to the rest, medially contacting each other; 1 st –4 th infralabials contacting anterior set of genials; 4 th and 5 th infralabials contacting posterior pair of genials. COLOURATION IN ETHANOL. Body overall greyish-brown to olive brown, a few small, pale yellowish patches along the trunk. Head mostly faded with grey or bluish grey colour; rostral, upper and lower labials faded grey to off-white, inter-scale colouration on anterior body black white; posteriorly at few places brownish white. Venter cream to light shades of grey; off-white ventrolateral stripe present from neck up to tail tip. Paralectotype (Fig. 4) Total length 1006.0; snout to vent length 631.0; tail length 375.0; relative tail length 37.2%; head length 28.5; head width 10.9; head depth 10.0.; eye diameter 5.5; eye snout tip distance 10.6; eye nostril distance 7.2; interorbital distance 9.9. Anterior scale rows 15; mid-body scale rows 15; posterior scale rows 13; ventrals 203; pre-ventrals 3; cloacal scale 1; subcaudals 155 pairs; supralabials 9 (4 th –5 th touching eye); infralabials 9 (1 st –5 th touching genials); loreal 3; preocular 1; postoculars 2; temporals 2+2; dorsum brownish-green; venter of a lighter shade as dorsum; chin, throat and labials dirty white. Variation (Table 4; also see Wall 1910) The examined non-type specimens agree well with the type specimens and show the following intraspecific variations: MEASUREMENTS (in mm). Total length 1059–1141; snout to vent length 679–768; tail length 373–380; head length 25.6–29.2; head width 9.5–9.6; head depth 7.0–7.1; horizontal eye diameter 4.5–4.6; vertical eye diameter 2.4–3.1; eye to nostrils distance 7.0–8.3; eye to snout tip distance 9.7–10.5; internarial distance 3.5–5.2; interorbital distance 7.3–9.1; mid-body width 7.1–7.7; internasal length 3.5–3.9; prefrontal length 3.6–5.7; frontal length 6.8–8.7; parietal length 5.3–7.3. SCALATION. Ventrals 197–200; pre-ventrals 3; supralabials 8 or 9; infralabials 8 or 9; anterior scale row 15; mid-body scale row 15, posterior scale row, 11–13; subcaudals, 155–183. BNHS 1975 has 3 loreals on each side and single pre-subocular, contacting 4 th supralabial below and preocular above. COLOURATION IN LIFE (Figs 6–7). Usually verdant green above, with fluorescent green on the ventral side. A pair of creamy white ventrolateral stripes extends from near neck up to the tip of the tail. Labials, chin and mental region whitish to cream coloured. Inter-scalar skin with alternating black and white ragged bands. Iris yellowish-green with black horizontal pupil. On occasions, body overall yellowish-brown, with minute black dots along the trunk. Venter cream to light brown, flanked on either side by off-white ventrolateral stripes from neck up to tail tip. Distribution and natural history Ahaetulla flavescens comb. nov. is currently known from four Northeast Indian states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya (Fig. 8) (Wall 1910; Ahmed et al. 2009). This species was perhaps first recorded in Northeast India, under the name A. prasinus auctorum by Cantor (1847) who mentioned specimens from Bengal and Assam. The following localities were subsequently reported for this taxon, under the name A. prasina: Bengal (Günther 1858, 1864), Eastern Himalayas, Sikkim, Katchar, Naga, Jaintea and Khasi hills, (Theobald 1876), Darjeeling, Cherrapunji, Duffla hills, Naga hills, Sibsagar and Cachar (Sclater 1891), Eastern Himalayas, Assam and Bengal (Boulenger 1890, 1896). Wall (1906, 1909a, 1909b) recorded this species from near Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri in Assam. Judging by the geographic continuity and lack of morphological differences, we hypothesise that populations inhabiting other parts of Northeast India and immediately neighbouring areas of other countries could represent A. flavescens. Like other members of this group, A. flavescens is a diurnal, arboreal species inhabiting the wet hill forest tracts of Northeast India (Whitaker & Captain 2004; Ahmed et al. 2009). It is reported to be live-bearing, as Whitaker & Captain (2004) state “females bear 4-10 live young [in] May-June”, without reference to any country. However, Wall (1910) reported three “eggs” inside a type specimen that was collected in March–April. Given the current knowledge on the reproduction of members of this genus (Das 2002; Whitaker & Captain 2004; Wallach et al. 2014), we hypothesise that Wall was probably referring to the caul or outer amniotic layer encapsuling the embryos of viviparous snake species. Wall (1910) also reported the presence of a gecko in its gut content. Based on our primary field observations, A. flavescens is somewhat temperamental with some individuals becoming defensive when restrained, displaying their open-mouth gape and striking forwards with a jerky motion. Comments Das & Chaturvedi (1998) remarked that Dryophis prasinus flavescens Wall, 1910 was described based on six syntypes. We clarify here that Wall only included the three buff-coloured snakes as part of the type series, whereas the green-coloured specimens were termed “forma typica”. Das & Chaturvedi (1998) remarked that BNHM (= BNHS) 1976, a buff-coloured specimen from Lakimpur, Assam is an extant syntype. Wall (1910) reported a ventral range of 200–209 including preventrals and 155–174 subcaudals, whereas the ventral count of BNHS 1976 is 183, clarifying that it is not a syntype. Das & Chaturvedi (1998) commented that other syntypes may in fact exist, without mentioning any repository. Our investigation proved that they are in London, registered as NHMUK (= BMNH) 1908.6.23.58–59 (Fig. 6). Apart from congruence in locality, collector and sex of the snakes, the ventral and subcaudal counts also match well. Wall (1910) reported 205 ventrals for both snakes and 155, 167 subcaudals, whereas we counted 203, 206 ventrals (+ 1 to 3 preventrals) and 155, 168 subcaudals. Wall (1910) gave measurements for only one of his syntypes from Lakhimpur, total length 5’7’’ (= 1701 mm), tail length 1’7.5’’ (= 495 mm). The tail length of the lectotype (NHMUK 1908.23.6.58) matched fully, although its total length was only 1335 mm. Above all, Wall (1910) stated that 4 th supralabial is divided on the right side, which completely matches with the NHMUK (= BMNH) 1908.23.6.58 specimen. Lastly, Das & Chaturvedi (1998) stated that Smith (1943) erroneously credited the taxon authorship of Dryophis prasinus flavescens to Smith (1915; sic, for 1914) and the type locality was given as Trang Pen, Siam. We further add that Smith’s treatment and usage of this nomen was only a chresonym, when he followed Wall’s subspecies arrangement upon finding a buff variety in Siam, i.e., Thailand (see our chresonymy for unambiguity). In essence, we here demonstrate that the first two buff-coloured female snakes Wall dealt with while describing A. flavescens are indeed NHMUK (= BMNH) 1908.6.23.58–59. Here, we clarify the confusions about the identity of the type specimens, rediscover and redescribe the type specimens, prove the specific distinction of this nominal taxon and resurrect it as a valid species. Hence, we evoke Art.74.7 of the Code (ICZN 1999) and designate NHMUK (= BMNH) 1908.6.23.58 as the lectotype of Dryophis prasinus flavescens Wall, 1910. The chosen lectotype is the larger of the two type specimens, has characters that enable its unambiguous recognition, has precise provenance data and is deposited in a scientific institution of permanent record., Published as part of Srikanthan, Achyuthan N., Adhikari, Omkar Dilip, Mallik, Ashok Kumar, Campbell, Patrick D., Bhatt, Bharat Bhushan, Shanker, Kartik & Ganesh, Sumaithangi Rajagopalan, 2022, Taxonomic revaluation of the Ahaetulla prasina (H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827) complex from Northeast India: resurrection and redescription of Ahaetulla flavescens (Wall, 1910) (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae), pp. 120-148 in European Journal of Taxonomy 839 (1) on pages 133-142, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.839.1937, http://zenodo.org/record/7195192, {"references":["Wall F. 1910. Notes on snakes collected in upper Assam. Part II. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 19: 825 - 845. https: // www. biodiversitylibrary. org / item / 28012 page / 939 / mode / 1 up","Mell R. 1931. List of Chinese snakes. Lingnan Science Journal 8 [1929]: 199 - 219.","Gunther A. C. L. G. 1858. Catalogue of Colubrine Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum, Vol. 4. Printed by order of Trustees, London, UK. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 13272","Gunther A. C. L. G. 1864. The Reptiles of British India. The Ray Society, London, UK. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 5012","Theobald W. 1876. Descriptive Catalogue of the Reptiles of British India. The Indian Museum, Calcutta. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 5483","Boulenger G. A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, UK. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 5490","Boulenger G. A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. III, Containing the Colubridae (Opisthoglyphae and Proteroglyphae), Amblycephalidae and Viperidae. British Museum (Natural History), London, UK. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 8316","Boie F. 1827. Bemerkungen uber Merrem's Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien, 1. Lieferung: Ophidier. Isis von Oken 20 (6): col. 508 - 566. Available from https: // www. biodiversitylibrary. org / page / 26453570 [accessed 24 Aug. 2022].","Wall F. 1909 a. Notes on snakes from the neighbourhood of Darjeeling. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 19 (2): 337 - 357. https: // www. biodiversitylibrary. org / part / 33733","Wall F. 1909 b. Notes on snakes collected in the Jalpaiguri district. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 19 (3): 897 - 700. Available from https: // www. biodiversitylibrary. org / part / 220519 [accessed 1 Jul. 2022].","Mallik A. K., Srikanthan A. N., Pal S. P., D'Souza P. M., Shanker K. & Ganesh S. R. 2020. Disentangling vines: a study of morphological crypsis and genetic divergence in vine snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Ahaetulla) with the description of five new species from Peninsular India. Zootaxa 4874 (1): 1 - 62. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 4874.1.1","Deepak V., Narayanan S., Sarkar V., Dutta S. K. & Mohapatra P. P. 2019. A new species of Ahaetulla Link, 1807 (Serpentes: Colubridae: Ahaetullinae) from India. Journal of Natural History 53 (9 - 10): 497 - 516. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00222933.2019.1589591","Ahmed F., Das A. & Dutta S. K. 2009. Amphibians and Reptiles of Northeast India: A Photographic Guide. Aaranyak, Guwahati, India.","Cantor T. E. 1847. Catalogue of reptiles inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and the Islands. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 16 (2): 897 - 952. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 5057","Sclater W. L. 1891. List of Snakes in the Indian Museum. Printed by order of Trustees of Indian Museum, The Indian Museum, Calcutta, India. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 8746","Wall F. 1906. A popular treatise on the common Indian snakes. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 17 (1): 1 - 9. https: // www. biodiversitylibrary. org / part / 24098","Whitaker R. & Captain A. 2004. Snakes of India - The Field Guide. Draco Books, India.","Das I. 2002. Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. New Holland Publishers, UK.","Wallach V., Williams K. L. & Boundy J. 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. Taylor and Francis, CRC Press.","Das I. & Chaturvedi N. 1998. Catalogue of the herpetological types in the collection of the Bombay Natural History Society. Hamadryad 23 (2): 150 - 156.","Smith M. A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the IndoChinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia, Vol. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor and Francis, London."]}

Descriptive accounts of the cranial osteology of snakes is important for systematics, functional morphology and also, to some extent, palaeontology. In the present study, we describe the skull of Argyrogena fasciolata, a south Asian colubrid snake, in detail. Bones of the snout unit of this snake are adapted for a fossorial mode of life whereas the braincase lacks any adaptations related to such an existence. We also compared its skull with other snakes belonging to sixteen other genera which together form the large clade containing Afrotropical, Palaearctic and Saharo-Arabian racers/whip snakes. The comparison shows that the cranium of A. fasciolata bears more similarity with that of Platyceps spp, differing mostly in three characteristics pertaining to premaxilla, nasal and pterygoid bones, than it does with crania of other genera. This suggests a closer relationship between those two genera. We also performed molecular phylogenetic analyses on three mitochondrial loci using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference optimality criteria. The resultant phylogenies indeed recover A. fasciolata as sister to Platyceps spp.

Ablabes hamptoni Boulenger, 1900 Redescription: (Table 1, Figure 1, 2, 3) A small to medium sized snake with a maximum SVL of 843 mm (in the holotype of P. hamptoni); body slender; tail long (TAL/total length 0.21���0.24), head more or less distinct from neck; HW greater than HH; snout moderately elongated (ESD/HLB 0.37���0.39), obtusely pointed; from the prefrontal region the forehead slopes down steeply towards snout tip; eye moderately large (ED/HLB 0.23���0.28), with round pupil; rostral wider than high and contacts 6 scales, namely 1st SL, internasals and anterior nasals; suture between internasals smaller than that between prefrontals; lateral extensions of prefrontals descend onto upper parts of loreal region; loreal present or absent���for example, in ZSI 20503, 20504 and Regd. No. 40107 loreal is absent whereas a small loreal is present between posterior nasal, 2nd SL, pre-ocular and the prefrontal in NHML 1946.1.5.32, MCZ R 44714, VR/ERS/ZSI 501(A) and 501(J); amongst the specimens without a loreal, preocular contacts posterior nasal in two (ZSI 20503 and 20504) specimens whereas in Regd. No. 40107 the lateral extension of the prefrontal contacts the 2nd SL (however, an incomplete suture is present on the downward lateral extension of the prefrontal)���the pattern indicates that in the former loreal had fused with the pre-ocular while in the latter a fusion occurred between loreal and prefrontal; frontal pentagonal, longer than its distance from rostral, and contacts prefrontals, supraoculars and parietals; both the parietals and the suture between them are longer than the frontal; nasal divided and posterior nasal larger than its anterior counterpart; 1preocular; a very small presubocular either present or absent; postoculars 2 or 3 (Regd. No. 40107); TEMP (R/L) 1+2/1+2, lower posterior TEMP sometimes prevented from touching anterior TEMP by 7th SL (ZSI 11939, 20503, VR/ERS/ZSI 501(A), MCZ R 44714); SL (R/L) 6/6 (MCZ R 44714) or 7/7 (other specimens), 1 st and 2nd SL touch nasals; in most of the specimens 4th and 5th SL contact eye while in ZSI 20503 and MCZ R 44714, 3rd also in contact with eye; 7th SL large, followed by a moderately large scale (regarded by some authors as the 8th SL located behind the corner of the mouth, so not considered here to be a supralabial); mental triangular; IL (R/L) 6/6 or 7/7, 1st to 4th IL contacts anterior genial while posterior genial is usually contacted by 4th and 5th IL except in ZSI 20503 where 5th IL is just separated from posterior genial; anterior genial 1.6���2.2 times longer than the posterior genial; dorsal scales smooth, DSCH:M: V 15:15:15; VEN 173���194, in ZSI 20503 178th VEN is divided; Anal 1; SC 74���80 pairs. Dentition was studied in ZSI 11939; this specimen possesses 26 or 27 recurved teeth on an elongated narrow maxilla; the number of maxillary teeth reported in the literature is 25���33 (Boulenger 1900; Wall 1924b; Smith 1943). Hemipenis was studied in ZSI 11939. The following description of hemipenis is from an in situ preparation as an everted preparation was not available and the description follows the terminology of Dowling & Savage (1960); the hemipenis extends upto 14th SC in situ; apart from the base of the organ which is devoid of ornamentation, the basal 2/3 part is covered with large spines; at about 2/3 length of the hemipenis, an abrupt transition from spinous to a calyculate area occurs; calyces away from distal end are large and formed of thick ridges, therefore appearing somewhat like flounces; the ridges of calyces are papillate; calyces become very small and closely set towards the end of distal part. In life, the head and dorsum are uniformly verdant green which extends to the outer edges of VEN while the venter is white to whitish cream. In preservative, the dorsum becomes turquoise. One specimen, Regd. No. 40107, has a hitherto unreported colour pattern (Figure 3). The specimen has 4 black lateral stripes on a green (bluish-grey in preservative) dorsum. These stripes start at the midbody and while the lower one terminates at vent, the upper stripe runs for about half the length of tail. The lower stripes occupy 2nd and 3rd dorsal scale rows while the upper stripes run along 5th and 6th scales rows. This particular specimen, collected from Manipur by the first author, agrees with other specimens in every other aspect including lepidosis. Distribution: Following the designation of a lectotype by Capocaccia (1961), the type locality of Ptyas doriae is ���Monti ad Est di Bham��: Kakhien Hills���; i.e. ���Mountains situated east of Bhamo: Kachin hills���; the original locality given by Boulenger (1888) was merely ���Kakhien Hills���. So far this species has been recorded from Kachin State and Mandalay Region of Myanmar, Manipur State of India and southern Yunnan Province of China (Boulenger 1888, 1900; Wall 1924a, 1924b; Pope 1935; Smith 1943). In the present study, we also predicted the range using Maxent modeling. The AUC value obtained from the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve was 0.94, indicating a very good model performance. The reclassified output (Figure 4) predicts a large area in Southeast Asia, including northeastern India, northern Myanmar and parts of China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, as being climatically suitable for the species. The suitable habitat includes both plains and montane region. This species has so far been recorded from an altitudinal range of ��600���1780 meters above sea level. Wall (1924b) claimed that this species occurs above 4000 feet (about 1212 meters) elevation but this was refuted by Pope (1935) who recorded it from a lower altitude as well. The occurrence data and the prediction of climatic suitability both support Pope (1935). Moreover, Pope (1935) questioned the validity of the record of this snake from the lower valley of Chang Jiang River (formerly Yangtze River) of China reported by Wall (1924a) as the specimen forming the basis of this record (Wall 1903) was probably misidentified. The SDM analysis does not predict regions north of the extreme southern tip of Yunnan to be climatically suitable, thus once again supporting Pope���s opinion. The variable having the highest influence in determining distribution, as identified by jackknife analysis, is BIO 18 (���precipitation of the warmest quarter���) with percent and permutation contributions of 43.5 and 47.1 respectively. This species seems to be a denizen of forest and precipitation during the summer months may be important for maintaining forest cover, therefore acting as crucial scenopoetic determinant of this species��� distribution. From the location of known collection localities and predicted distribution, it seems that further exploration may reveal its presence in the Sagaing region of Myanmar andthe northeast Indian states adjacent to Manipur. It is noteworthy that Vietnam and Laos are inhabited by P. major and P. multicinctus (formerly placed in Cyclophiops) (Ziegler et al. 2007; Das 2010; Wallach et al. 2014) which may replace P. doriae there and strong prediction in those areas may actually indicate a conservatism of Grinnellian niche (also see Discussion). Natural history: Very little is known about the natural history of these snakes. Two specimens were observed in September at Maryland village (Manipur, India). Another one was found dead on the road at NH-2 near Molnoi village on the way to Moreh (Manipur, India) in the same month. These snakes live in bushes and shrubs (mainly Lantana, sometimes also occurring in bamboo groves) up to a maximum of 6 feet above ground (Figure 5). These snakes are said to be diurnal (Das 2010). According to the local people, these snakes are not uncommon in forested hillocks of Manipur from March to October and local people further report that they generally encounter these snakes during ���slash and burn��� cultivation works and also near villages. The vernacular name of these snakes in the Tangkhul language is ���Shineiphara��� and ���Naril��� in the Manipuri language. Nothing is known about their diet and reproductive habits., Published as part of Meetei, Asem Bipin, Das, Sunandan, Campbell, Patrick D., Raha, Sujoy & Bag, Probhat, 2018, A study on Ptyas doriae (Boulenger, 1888) with comments on the status of Ptyas hamptoni (Boulenger, 1900) (Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae), pp. 537-548 in Zootaxa 4457 (4) on pages 540-543, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4457.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/1458015, {"references":["Boulenger, G. A. (1900) Description of a new snake of the genus Ablabes from Burma. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 7, 6 (34), 409. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 00222930008678397","Wall, F. (1924 b) Notes on snakes collected in Burma in 1924. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 30, 805 - 821.","Smith, M. A. (1943) The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the Indochinese sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia, Folume 3, Serpentes. Taylor & Francis, London, xii + 583 pp.","Dowling, H. G. & Savage, J. M. (1960) A Guide to the Snake Hempenis: a Survey of Basic Structure and Systematic Characteristics. Zoologica, 45, 17 - 28.","Capocaccia, L. (1961) Catalogo dei tipi di rettili del Museo Civico di Naturale di Genova. Annali del Museo civico di Storia naturale Giacomo Doria, 72, 86 - 111.","Boulenger, G. A. (1888) An Account of Reptilia obtained in Burma, North of Tenasserim, by M. L. Fea, of the Genoa Civic Museum. Annali del Museo civico di Storia naturale di Genova, Series 2, 6, 503 - 604.","Wall, F. (1924 a) A hand-list of the snakes of the Indian empire. Part III. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 29, 864 - 878.","Pope, C. H. (1935) The reptiles of China: Turtles, Crocodilians, Snakes, Lizards. Natural History of South Asia. Fol. 10. The American Museum of Natural History, New York, 604 pp.","Wall, F. (1903) A prodromus of the snakes hiterto recorded from China, Japan, and the Loo Choo Islands: with some notes. 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