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Identification keys to Calotes of northeast India: A. Postocular spine present Nuchal crests well developed.......................................................................................................................................................................... C. emma Nuchal crests weakly developed......................................................................... 2 2A. 49–52 midbody scale rows.................................................................... C. zolaiking 2.B. 42–46 midbody scale rows....................................................................... C. paulus B. Postocular spine absent A pale stripe present below eye from snout to neck................................................... C. geissleri Pale stripe absent below eye............................................................................. 3 3A. Parallel rows of compressed scales above tympanum absent............................................ C. irawadi 3B. Parallel rows of compressed scales above tympanum present.................................................... 4 4A. Black fold on shoulder absent..................................................................... C. maria 4B. Black fold on shoulder present........................................................................... 5 5A. Scales on trunk obliquely and upwardly oriented................................................. C. medogensis 5B. Scales on trunk backwardly oriented............................................................... C. jerdoni, Published as part of Boruah, Bitupan, Narayanan, Surya, Deepak, V. & Das, Abhijit, 2022, Morphological and molecular differences in two closely related Calotes Cuvier 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae) with the first record of Calotes medogensis Zhao & Li, 1984 from India, pp. 433-455 in Zootaxa 5219 (5) on page 449, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5219.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/7431376

Boruah, Bitupan, Narayanan, Surya, Deepak, V., Das, Abhijit (2022): Morphological and molecular differences in two closely related Calotes Cuvier 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae) with the first record of Calotes medogensis Zhao & Li, 1984 from India. Zootaxa 5219 (5): 433-455, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5219.5.3

Calotes jerdoni Günther, 1870 Material examined: WII-ADR999, a male (Figure 5 A, B) collected from Malki forest (25°33ˊ24.4˝ N, 91°53ˊ33.9˝ E, Elevation: 1589 m asl.), Shillong, East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, on 31 July, 2016 (Figure 1); WII-ADR966, a female (Figure 5 C, D) collected from Dzuleke (25°38ˊ43.66˝ N, 93°59ˊ36.92˝ E, Elevation: 1987 m asl.), Kohima district, Nagaland, on 8 August, 2021 (Figure 1). Type series as mentioned in the Appendix 2. As Calotes jerdoni is a poorly known species, designating a lectotype for the species would provide taxonomic stability. Therefore, we designate the best preserved type specimen (BMNH 1946.8.11.54) among the syntypes as lectotype of C. jerdoni. Diagnosis: A moderate-sized agamid lizard, SVL 63.2 mm – 76.7 in male (n= 4) and SVL 74.1 mm – 102.2 mm in female (n= 4), TailL 196 mm – 240 mm in male (n= 4) and 204 mm – 300 mm in female (n= 4). Nuchal and dorsal crests continuous, consisting of erect compressed scales, smaller posteriorly. Two series of supratympanic spines present. Body laterally compressed, scales at the trunk heterogeneous in size, larger than ventrals, larger at the midbody towards dorsal side, oriented backward, 34–41 dorsal scales, 46–58 rows of scales around midbody, 68–78 ventrals. Mental larger than the chin shields, first pair of chin shields are of almost equal length and width; separated from each other by a small hexagonal scale, the gular scales at the mid-line are nearly equal to the adjacent gular scales away from the mid-line. Dorsally and ventrally green in colour. Description of the lectotype (BMNH 1946.8.11.54) (Figure 4): an adult male collected from Khasya (Khasi hills, Meghalaya), India by T. C. Jerdon. Specimen is in good condition. Moderate-sized lizard, SVL 76.6 mm, head distinct from neck, longer than width (HeadW/HeadL= 0.66), snout longer than orbital diameter (OrbD/SnEye= 0.71), loreal slightly concave, supraciliary and canthal ridge sharp, orbit three times larger than tympanum, supralabials 10 and 11 on right and left side respectively, infralabials 11 and 10 right and left side respectively. Body laterally compressed, 37 dorsal scales, 46 rows of scales around trunk at midbody, 71 ventrals, strongly keeled, a fold consisting of very small scales present in front of the shoulder. Tail rounded, TailL 213 mm, gradually tapering posteriorly, dorsal scales slightly smaller than that of ventral. Colouration in preservative: head dorsally and laterally light brown, a light bluish patch on left lateral side of the head below eye, gular region light brown with a light bluish patch on left side, trunk dorsally and laterally light bluish, belly whitish, tail dorsally and ventrally light brown, a white dorso-lateral line edged with black on trunk starting from neck to base of tail, a short white streak on elbow and knee. Morphological description of the newly collected materials: Morphometric and meristic characters are given in the Table 2. Moderate-sized lizard, SVL 63.2 mm (male) and 93 mm (female), head distinct from neck (Figure 5), longer than width (HeadW/HeadL= 0.64–0.68, n= 2), slightly concave in front, snout rounded in dorsal view, longer than orbital diameter (OrbD/SnEye= 0.72–0.79), loreal slightly concave, supraciliary and canthal ridge sharp, nostril elliptical, nasal large, orbit nearly three times larger than tympanum, pupil rounded, tympanum nearly rounded, rostral wider than mental, dorsal snout and head scales heterogenous in shape and size (Figure 6 G, J), scales at interorbital region, parietal region and occipital region with irregular ridge, scales at the loreal region, below and behind the orbit weakly keeled, heterogenous in shape and size, scales surrounding the eye are granular, feebly conical, scales surrounding tympanum are smaller than that of mandibular region and nape, supralabials nearly rectangular, elongated and smooth, a series of small elongated smooth scales above supralabials, rostral wide and narrow, interparietal scale with a distinct pit, two rows of elevated scales above tympanum, consisting of 8–9 scales, upper row starting from supraciliary to junction head and neck (Figure 6 I, L), the lower row just above the tympanum separated by two scales. Mental subtriangular, larger than the chin shields, infralabials smooth, narrow and elongated, first pair of chin shields are of almost equal length and width; separated by a small hexagonal scale, posterior chin shields are separated from infralabials by a series of narrow scales, size of the gular scales increases posteriorly, weakly keeled, scales between the chin shields are irregular in size and nearly of similar shape (Figure 7 C, D), subimbricate. Scales on neck are similar shape, posteriorly pointed, oriented backward, size increases dorsally and posteriorly, 9 nuchal spines, size increases posteriorly (Figure 6 I, L), length of the longest nuchal spine was less than twice the width (LongN/WidthN = 1.29–1.93, n= 8). Body laterally compressed, triangular in cross section. Dorsal crests reduced to a mere ridge on posterior body. Dorsal and lateral scales on trunk larger than ventrals, heterogenous in size, larger at the middle towards dorsal side, feebly keeled, pointed, more posteriorly oriented than dorsally, 39–41 dorsal scales, 54–58 rows of scales around trunk at midbody, ventral scales smaller than that of dorsal and lateral, strongly keeled; heterogenous in size, pointed, 77–78 ventrals, scales at the axilla, groin and insertion of hind limb are smaller, a fold consisting of very small scales present in front of the shoulder. Limbs moderate, thin, all scales keeled, smaller at the insertion, scales on ventral side of thigh are smaller than that of crus. Digits slender with strong and curved claw, lamellae entire, bicarinate. Tail rounded, gradually tapering posteriorly, dorsal scales slightly smaller than that of ventral, scales below cloaca smaller and size increases posteriorly, ventral scales strongly keeled, forming continuous ridge. Colouration in preservative: WII-ADR999 dorsally and ventrally uniform dark grey, tympanic shield and orbit whitish. WII-ADR966 dorsally anterior head to the level of interparietal grey; posterior part whitish, loreal region, behind the orbit to angle of jaw grey; tympanic region, mandibular region, below the level of nostril, both lips creamy white, dorsal, lateral and ventral of neck including nuchal spines creamy white to below axilla, trunk, tail and hindlimbs dark grey, forelimbs creamy white, ventrally head and chest whitish, rest of the belly, hind limbs and tail grey, forelimbs and crus ventrally creamy white. No light coloured patch on elbow, knee and heel visible. Colouration in life: Dorsal, lateral and ventral side of head green (Figure 10), dark stripes on orbit radiating from eye; sometimes slightly faint, tympanic shield light green. Trunk uniform green, on each side light brown lateral stripe starting from neck to tail may be present (Figure 10B). Tail dorsally green with light brown patches of irregular shape. White scales may be present on lateral side of trunk and forming discontinuous stripe on ventrolateral side. A dark brown black fold on shoulder. Ventrally pale uniform green. Light reddish-brown patch on elbow, knee and heel. Morphological comparison: Calotes jerdoni closely resembles with Calotes medogensis in external appearance. Morphological differences between these two species are mentioned above under Calotes jerdoni. It differs from Calotes maria by the presence of dark brown fold covered with small scales on the shoulder (vs. dark brown fold on shoulder absent), ridges above the tympanum not spinous (vs. spinous), nuchal spines less developed (vs. nuchal spines more pronounced) (Smith 1935). Natural history: We recorded the individuals of Calotes jerdoni on shrubs along road and forest edge. Frequently observed roosting on shrubs at night. Distribution: Calotes jerdoni is widely reported from northeast India to China. We recorded the species Malki forest, Shillong, Meghalaya and Dzuleke, Nagaland. Earlier reported from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya (Gunther 1870), Barail Wildlife Sanctuary (Das et al. 2009), Tinsukia and Dibrugarh district of Assam (Sengupta et al. 2019), Ukhrul in the state of Manipur, Kohima, Nagaland (Das et al. 2009), Chin Hills and Maymyo in Myanmar, Western Yunan (Teng-yueh), China (Smith 1935). Earlier reports from north of Brahmaputra River including Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan could be referred to Calotes medogensis., Published as part of Boruah, Bitupan, Narayanan, Surya, Deepak, V. & Das, Abhijit, 2022, Morphological and molecular differences in two closely related Calotes Cuvier 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae) with the first record of Calotes medogensis Zhao & Li, 1984 from India, pp. 433-455 in Zootaxa 5219 (5) on pages 443-444, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5219.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/7431376, {"references":["Gunther, A. (1870) Descriptions of a new Indian lizard of the genus Calotes. Proceedings of Zoological Society of London, 1870, 778 - 779.","Das, A., Saikia, U., Murthy, B. H. C. K., Dey, S. & Dutta, S. K. (2009) A herpetofaunal inventory of Barail Wildlife Sanctuary and adjacent regions, Assam, north-eastern India. Hamadryad, 34 (1), 117 - 134.","Sengupta, D., Borah, C. G. & Phukon, J. (2019) Assessment of the reptilian fauna in the Brahmaputra Plains of two districts in Assam, India. Reptiles & Amphibians, 26 (1), 65 - 67."]}

Calotes medogensis Zhao & Li, 1984 Material examined: WII-ADR1211, a female (Figure 3A,B)collected from Ramsing(28°39ˊ22.71˝ N, 94°58ˊ46.22˝ E, Elevation: 601 m asl.), Mouling National Park, Upper Siang, Arunachal Pradesh on 28 October, 2021 (Figure 1); WII-ADR452, a female (Figure 3 C, D) collected from Poba Reserve Forest, Arunachal Pradesh, on 30 September, 2018 (Figure 1). Diagnosis: A moderate-sized agamid lizard, SVL 76–95.9 mm (n= 3), TailL 212–271 mm (n= 3). Nuchal and dorsal crests continuous, consisting of erect compressed scales, distinctly pronounced at nuchal crests than the dorsal crests, smaller posteriorly. Two series of supratympanic spines present. Body laterally compressed, scales at the trunk heterogeneous in size, larger than ventrals, larger at the mid-body towards dorsal side, dorsally and posteriorly oriented, 40–42 dorsal scales, 53–58 rows of scales at midbody, 88–91 ventrals. Mental smaller than chin shields, first pair of chin shields are narrow and elongated, separated from each other by two small scales, the gular scales at the mid-line are distinctly smaller than the adjacent gular scales away from the mid-line. Dorsally and ventrally green in colour. Morphological description based on newly collected materials: Morphometric and meristic characters are given in the Table 2. Moderate-sized lizard, SVL 82.8–95.9 mm (n= 2), head distinct from neck (Figure 3), moderately large, longer than width (HeadW/HeadL= 0.67–0.68), slightly concave in front, snout rounded in dorsal view, longer than orbital diameter (OrbD/SnEye= 0.65–0.74), loreal slightly concave, supraciliary and canthal ridge sharp, nostril elliptical, nasal large, orbit three times larger than tympanum, pupil rounded, tympanum oval, rostral wider than mental, dorsal snout and head scales heterogenous in shape and size (Figure 6 A, D), scales at interorbital region, parietal region and occipital region have spinules forming irregular keel, scales at the loreal region, below and behind the orbit keeled, heterogenous in shape and size, scales surrounding the eye are granular, feebly conical, scales surrounding tympanum are smaller than that of mandibular region and nape, supralabials nearly rectangular, elongated, smooth, rostral wide and narrow, interparietal scale with a distinct pit, two series of ridge on temporal region above tympanum (Figure 6 C, F), upper row is consists of 9–10 scales, continuous with supraciliary scale to neck, posterior two or three scales of the upper row more pronounced or spinous, the lower row just above tympanum consisting of 9–10 scales and separated by two to three scales from tympanum, scales posteriorly more pronounced forming spine. Mental subtriangular or nearly hexagonal, smaller than chin shields, infralabials smooth, narrow and elongated, first pair of chin shields are narrow and elongated, separated by two small scales, posterior chin shields are separated from infralabials by a series of narrow scales, scales between the chin shields are smaller than the rest of the gular scales, irregular in shape and size (Figure 7 B, E), feebly keeled, gular scales posteriorly pointed, keeled, subimbricate, gular scales (except the middle scales) larger than that of the belly, the gular scales at the mid-line are distinctly smaller than the adjacent gular scales away from the mid-line (Figure 7 C, F). Scales on neck are similar shape, posteriorly pointed; upwardly and posteriorly directed, size increases dorsally and posteriorly, 8–9 nuchal spine, size increases posteriorly (Figure 6 C, F), length of the longest nuchal spine was more than twice the width of it (LongN/WidthN = 2.19–2.71, n= 2). Body laterally compressed; triangular in cross section. Dorsal crest reduced to mere ridge posteriorly. Dorsal and lateral scales of the trunk larger than ventrals, heterogenous in size; larger at the mid-body towards dorsal side, feebly keeled; pointed, dorsally and posteriorly oriented, 40–42 dorsal scales, 53–58 rows of scales around trunk at midbody, ventral scales smaller than that of dorsal and lateral, strongly keeled; heterogenous in size, pointed, 88–91 ventrals, scales at the axilla, groin and insertion of hind limb are smaller, a fold consisting of very small scales present in front of the shoulder. Limbs moderate and thin. Forefoot length nearly equal to upper arm length (UparmL/ForefL= 0.99–1.03). Crus length and thigh length almost equal (CrusL/UplegL= 1.02–1.09). All scales on limbs are keeled, smaller at the insertion, scales on ventral side of thigh are smaller than that of crus. Digits slender; with strong and curved claw, lamellae entire, bicarinate (more than two keels at the base). Tail long, two to three times of SVL, rounded, gradually tapering posteriorly, dorsal scales slightly smaller than that of ventral, scales at the base near cloaca smaller than the rest, ventral scales strongly keeled, forming continuous ridge. Colouration in preservative: WII-ADR1211, head, anterior part of back, forelimb, crus and foot dorsally bluish grey, large black patch from axilla to middle of the trunk, longer on left side, lower half of the trunk yellowish green, vertebral scales bluish grey all along the body, thigh scales dorsally green with black edge, almost anterior one third of the tail bluish grey, posteriorly greyish brown, three series of whitish scales on back arranged in “˄” shape. Fold on shoulder black. Head laterally bluish grey. Anterior gular scales reddish, rest gular scales intermixed with grey and yellowish green, chest scales yellowish, anterior part of belly intermixed with grey and yellowish scales, posterior part of the belly light yellow, hind limbs ventrally light yellow, forelimbs greyish, tail at the base and some extent of anterior part greenish yellow, posteriorly turn into grey. Small light brown patch on elbow and knee, a large light brown patch on heel to the base of 5 th toe. WII-ADR452, dorsally bluish grey, slightly dark patches on head, neck, above axilla and thigh, a large black patch from axilla to groin covering dorsolateral and lateral side of the trunk on both sides, ventrally entire body grey. Light cream coloured patch on elbow, knee and heel, larger on heel. Colouration in life: Dorsal, lateral and ventral side of head green (Figure 9), dark stripes present on orbit radiating from eye, sometimes faint. Dorsum and tail dorsally green, series of discontinuous white scales on back arranged in “˄” shape. A dark brown fold/pit on shoulder, ventrally belly and tail light green, light brown patch on elbow, knee and heel. Morphological comparison: Calotes medogensis closely similar to Calotes jerdoni, but it can be differentiated from the latter by more pronounced nuchal spines, i.e. nuchal spines distinctly longer than that of the dorsum (vs. nuchal spines not distinctly longer than those of the dorsum), length of the longest nuchal spine more than twice the width (vs. length of the longest nuchal spine less than twice the width), scales on trunk oriented obliquely upward (vs. scales on trunk oriented backward) (Figure 8), posterior 2–3 scales of the upper row of ridge above tympanum are spinous (vs. all the scales are similar), mental smaller than the first two pairs of chin shields (vs. mental larger than the chin shields) (Figure 7), the first two pairs of chin shield are longer than wide (vs. chin shields are as long as wide) (Figure 7), first pair of chin shield are separated by two small scales below mental (vs. first pair of chin shield are separated by small single scale below mental) (Figure 7), the scales between the chin shields are irregular in shape (vs. scales between the chin shields are almost similar shaped), the gular scales at the mid-line are distinctly smaller than the adjacent gular scales away from the mid-line (vs. gular scales at the mid-line are nearly equal to the adjacent gular scales away from the mid-line) (Figure 7), number ventrals is more in Calotes medogensis (88–91) than that of Calotes jerdoni (77–78). Calotes medogensis can be differentiated from Calotes maria by the presence of dark brown fold on shoulder (vs. absent) (Smith 1935), black stripes on orbit originating from eyes present (vs. absent) (Günther 1870). Natural history: We encountered the individuals on bushes, commonly observed roosting on shrubs and ferns along roadside and forest edges at night. We observed individuals changing body colour from green to brown (Figure 9B). Distribution: Calotes medogensis was known only from Yarang village, Beibeng Township of Medog County, China (Che et al. 2020). We recorded the species in Poba reserve forest, Jengging, Tuting, Yubuk, Ramsing in Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier records of Calotes jerdoni from Komsing, Yembung, Balek (Annandale 1912), Nameri National Park, Pake Tiger Reserve, Mouling National Park and Namdapha National Park (Pawar & Birand 2001), Pasighat (Sanyal & Gayen 2006), Zoological Survey of India campus, Itanagar (Sinha et al. 2021) could be referred to Calotes medogensis based on the proximity to the current records. Also, a record of Calotes jerdoni from Bhutan by Wangyal (2011) needs further verification., Published as part of Boruah, Bitupan, Narayanan, Surya, Deepak, V. & Das, Abhijit, 2022, Morphological and molecular differences in two closely related Calotes Cuvier 1817 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae) with the first record of Calotes medogensis Zhao & Li, 1984 from India, pp. 433-455 in Zootaxa 5219 (5) on pages 436-442, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5219.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/7431376, {"references":["Zhao, E. & Li, S. (1984) A new species of Calotes (Lacertilia: Agamidae) from Xizang (Tibet). Acta herpetological sinica, 3 (4), 77 - 78.","Gunther, A. (1870) Descriptions of a new Indian lizard of the genus Calotes. Proceedings of Zoological Society of London, 1870, 778 - 779.","Che, J., Jiang, K., Yan, F. & Zhang, Y. (2020) Amphibians and Reptiles in Tibet - Diversity and Evolution. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Science Press, Beijing, 803 pp.","Annandale, N. (1912) Zoological results of the Abor Expedition, 1911 - 12. Batrachia and Reptilia. Records of the Indian Museum, 8, 7 - 59.","Pawar, S. & Birand, A. (2001) A survey of amphibians, reptiles, and birds in Northeast India. CERC Technical Report 6. Centre for Ecological Research and Conservation, Mysore, 118 pp.","Sanyal, D. P. & Gayen, N. C. (2006) Reptilia. In: Alfred, J. R. B. (Ed.), Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh. State Fauna Series. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, pp. 247 - 284.","Sinha, B., Nath, K. P. & Gurumayum, S. D. (2021) Herpetofaunal Diversity of Zoological Survey of India Campus, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 121 (3), 411 - 418."]}

Oligodon melaneus Wall, 1909 Figs. 1–3, Tables 1–2. Wall (1909) provided relatively detailed descriptions of the two syntypes. We note differences between Wall’s and our observations in the text and Table 2, and provide the first photographs of the syntypes (Figs. 2 and 3), but otherwise focus on a more detailed description of the new specimen because it was collected more than 260 km from the type locality. Lectotype. BMNH 1910.12.31.3 (Fig. 2), a female specimen from Tindharia (ca. 26.85660°N, 88.34442°E; 823 m elevation), Darjeeling District, West Bengal state, India, collected July 1908. This specimen is here designated as the lectotype because it is the best preserved of the two syntypes. Specimen in very good condition; ventral incision into coelom ca. 25 mm to ca. 40 mm from vent, midventral incision ca. 14 mm into anterior end of tail; 329 mm total length (snout–vent length 280 mm, tail length 49 mm); head length 10.4 mm; head width 5.6 mm. Lepidosis. 7,7 supralabials but on the right side the 2 nd and 3 rd and the 6 th and the 7 th supralabial are incompletely distinct (partially ‘fused’). The 3rd and 4th supralabials in contact with the spectacle covering the eye. Partly subdivided nasal contacts 1 st and 2 nd supralabial. 1,1 preocular; 7,7 infralabials; 1+2,1+2 temporals; 2,2 postoculars; dorsal scales in 17-15-15 rows; 159 ventrals; 39 subcaudals. Colouration in preservative. Body colour brown; top of the head without typical Oligodon markings, same colour as dorsum; rostral cream; supralabials heavily speckled with dark brown, paler edged; postoculars and temporals (see Fig. 2) unpatterned; infralabials and genial region cream with four dark brown spots medially; anterior ventral scales are edged with dark brown; posterior to the thirteenth ventral, colouration uniform dark brown throughout to vent. Subcaudals dark brown with paler centres. Paralectotype. BNHS 958 (fide Wall 1924; Fig. 3), a male specimen from the same locality and date of collection as the lectotype. Specimen dehydrated to some extent and possibly moulting when it was fixed; outer layer of most head shields and some body scales missing; 312 mm total length (snout–vent length 261 mm, tail length 51 mm); head length 9.1 mm; head width 5.3 mm; adult male. Lepidosis. 7,7 supralabials with the 3 rd and 4 th in contact with the eye. Partly subdivided nasal contacts 1 st supralabial only. 1,1 small preocular; 7,7 infralabials; 1+2, 1+2 temporals; 2,2 postocular; dorsal scales in 17-15-15 rows; 152 ventrals; 43 subcaudals. Colouration in preservative. Body colour dark grey merging to greyish on the flanks; individual scales finely speckled with black on a grey background. Venter grey and iridescent; ventral scales finely speckled with black, less densely on the anterior part of the body than on the posterior of the body and subcaudals (Fig. 3)., Published as part of Das, Abhijit, Gower, David J., Narayanan, Surya, Pal, Saunak, Boruah, Bitupan, Magar, Sanjay, Das, Sanjib, Moulick, Soumabrata & Deepak, V., 2022, Rediscovery and systematics of the rarely encountered Blue-bellied kukri snake (Oligodon melaneus Wall, 1909) from Assam, India, pp. 417-430 in Zootaxa 5138 (4) on page 421, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5138.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/6571654, {"references":["Wall, F. (1924) A handlist of the snakes of the Indian empire. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 29 (3 - 4), 598 - 632."]}

Das, Abhijit, Smith, Eric N., Sidik, Irvan, Sarker, Goutam C., Boruah, Bitupan, Patel, Naitik G., Deepak, V. (2021): Hidden in the plain sight: a new species of Rhabdophis (Serpentes: Natricinae) from the Rhabdophis himalayanus complex. Zootaxa 5020 (3): 401-433, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5020.3.1

Lycodon mackinnoni Wall, 1906 (Fig. 2���6) Chresonymy. Lycodon mackinnoni ��� Wall (1906: 29), Smith (1943: 263), Lanza (1999: 99), Whitaker & Captain (2004: 24), Bahuguna (2010: 481), Wallach et al. (2014: 395), Das & Das (2017: 166), Ganesh et al. (2020: 75) Ophites mackinnoni ��� Wall (1923:614) Common Name. Himalayan snake (Wall, 1906), Mackinnon���s Wolf Snake (Wall, 1906; Uetz et al. 2020; Smith, 1943), Mussoorie wolf snake (Bahuguna, 2010), Himalayan wolf snake (Manhas et al. 2015) Holotype. BMNH 1946.1.13.81 adult female, in ��� Neighbourhood of Mussoorie ���, Uttar Pradesh (presently Uttarakhand), India (roughly 30.4595�� N, 78.0715�� E). Referred material. WII-ADR197, adult female, from Dhobhighat (30.4690��N, 78.0338�� E, 1659 meter above sea level (m asl)), near Binog Wildlife Sanctuary, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, collected by Kuldeep Rawat on 20 May, 2019 at 2300 hrs. Description of adult female. We provide a detailed description of WII-ADR197 as the first description of a female individual of Lycodon mackinnoni. See Table 2 for the morphometric and meristic data. The specimen is in good condition, slightly desiccated. Slender body, generally oval-shaped in cross-section, with rounded dorsum, widest approximately at midbody, tapering posteriorly. Head suboval when viewed from the top, longer than wide, moderately distinct from the neck, sides convex, slightly converging towards the snout. Snout subovoid when viewed from the top, slightly projecting beyond the lower jaw. In lateral view, head almost flat from back to the anterior part of the eye, obtusely projecting towards the snout. Canthus rostralis indistinct in cross-section. Loreal region convex in lateral cross-section. Rostral in dorsal view partially visible, two times wider than long; frontal hexagonal, slightly longer than wide, lateral edges diverging anteriorly, more than half of the parietal height, width almost equal; parietals longer than wide, overlapping medially, subhexagonal, in contact with frontal, supraocular, two upper temporals, contacting with upper and lower postocular in right side only; prefrontal subequal in width and length, subpentagonal, slightly longer and broader than internasals. Nasal divided, anterior nasal is double in height to posterior nasal, anterior nasal subpentagonal, posterior nasal subquadrangular, in contact with the first supralabial; internasal subpentagonal, nearly equal in height and width. Loreal subhexagonal, higher than wide; touching preocular, internasal, prefrontal and posterior nasal. Supraocular slightly higher than wide in the right, merged with first preocular scale in the left side. One preocular on both side, subpentagonal. Postocular two in the right side, one in left, upper postocular fused with supraocular. Subcircular naris, dorsally visible, nostril opening covered much of the anterior nasal scale; eight supralabials on each side; 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th entering orbit, 1 st ���3 rd in contact with loreal, 6 th with lower postocular, 8 th contacting posterior lower temporal, 6 th is the highest among all, 7 th is the widest; two anterior temporals and three posterior temporals on each side. Both anterior are almost equally wider. Eye lateral with rounded pupil, longitudinal diameter half of the distance between eye and nostril, the horizontal distance between the two eyes is almost equal to the distance between eye to snout; Mental subtriangular, wider than long. Nine infralabials (ILs), first pair longest and in midline contact, 6 th is widest among all, 9 th is the smallest. Two pairs of genials, nearly equal in size, 1 st ��� 5 th ILs in contact with anterior genials, in right, while in left 1 st ��� 4 th in contact, 5 th ��� 6 th with posterior genial���s contact. Dorsal scale 17:17:15; smooth throughout the body, dorsal scales just behind the head slightly smaller than at midbody, no apical pit present, dorsal scale 17 till 115 ventral, in right side, reduction from 17 to 16 DSR is due to the fusion of 3 and 4 row at 116 ventral, reduction from 16 to 15 DSR is due to fusion of 3 and 4 row at 122 ventral scales maintained to vent. Ventral scales 186; not angulate laterally, anal divided; subcaudals 52, divided; tail not pointed, tail base subtriangular in cross-section. Dorsum greyish - brown with a network of approximately 63 white bands from just behind the head to vent. The bands are distributed profusely, connected laterally, anteriorly more spaced than posterior, in tail region bands are a little indistinct and more closer. First two rows of dorsal scale are margined with pastel white with dark brown centre. Ventrals mostly pale with light brownish edges, preventrals mostly pale with isolated and irregular light brown blotches. Head greyish brown, white mottling on parietals lateral side, white blotch where parietal and frontal meets medially; ventral side of the head pale; First three ILs and mental with light brown mottling. Comparison with holotype. The new specimen matches the holotype with the following exceptions. In WII-ADR197, loreal scale is present which was reported to be absent in Wall (1906). Subsequent reports of the species (Manhas et al. 2015; Faiz et al. 2018; Jablonski et al. 2019) reported presence of loreal scale as a character. This is quite intriguing for the fact that loreal is present in the topotypic material (Fig. 4E). We suspect that since the specimen submitted to Wall (1906) was ���mutilated��� (sic Wall, 1906 ) on the head, thus there may be a mismatch. As we have observed the type it was difficult to ascertain the presence of loreal scale from the desiccated head scales (Fig. 5. However, in the place of loreal scale we noticed a long space inbetween preocular and the nasal. The new specimen differs in having one left postocular, while there are two in the holotype. BMNH 1946.1.13.81 has 8,7 SLs, 2+2 anterior temporals (AT) and posterior temporals (PT) while the new specimen has 8,8 SLs, 2+3 AT and PT. Moreover, holotype has separate prefrontal and internasal on the right side while on the left side they are fused. The rest of the characters match with the holotype. Natural history and habitat: On the 20 th of May at 23:00 hrs, a gravid female individual was observed active on the ground along a foot trail on a ~50 o slope. The snake was found active at 16.7 oC ambient temperature and relative humidity of 48.1%. The area was a part of south-facing slope of the outer Himalayas dominated by Quarcus leucotricophora (Camus) and weedy Ageratina adenophora (Spreng) and is greatly modified for human and grazing use. Ground vegetations are sparse and shunted. The area was mostly rocky and a considerable part of it was in the form of limestone. The soil in the region is generally medium loam but its composition, depth, moisture and humus content varies considerably from place to place depending upon aspect, slopes and soil cover. Lycodon mackinnoni is a montane and generally nocturnal species. It is a low to medium (783���2000 m) hill dwelling species (Faiz et al. 2018; Smith 1943). It inhabits the medium loam, low bushes, Banj oak forests, Chir pine forests and crop land (Faiz et al. 2018; Jablonski et al. 2019). The snake was docile and never attempted to bite. The sighting confirmed the terrestrial habits of the species. On the 3 rd of June 2019 the snake laid four eggs in captivity. The eggs ranged from 19.2��� 23.4 mm length x 9.0 ��� 9.7 mm width. Syntopic reptilian fauna observed in its habitat included Sibynophis collaris (Gray, 1853 ) , Gloydius himalayanus (Gunther, 1864), Herpetoreas platyceps (Blyth, 1854), Boiga multifasciata (Blyth, 1861), Japalura kumaonensis (Annandale, 1907) and Asymblepharus himalayanus (Gunther, 1864). Conservation status. Biodiversity values of the Himalayan region are under threat from deforestation, development projects, urbanization and climate change (Bawa & Kadur, 2013). The record of Lycodon mackinnoni from its type locality after a long gap was a matter of delight. The record from close to BWLS indicates the availability of similar and safer habitats where the species is likely to occur. Being situated near the famous tourist destination Mussoorie, Binog attracts tourists throughout the year which often causes vehicular traffic, pollution and other tourism-related activities in the sanctuary. Such kind of human intervention may be detrimental for the Himalayan endemic species like L. mackinnoni which is assigned as schedule IV according to Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 of the Parliament of India. A detailed status survey and further research on the biological aspects are needed to develop a comprehensive action plan for this rare species., Published as part of Nawani, Swati, Deepak, V., Gautam, Kumudani Bala, Gupta, Sandeep Kumar, Boruah, Bitupan & Das, Abhijit, 2021, Systematic status of the rare Himalayan wolf snake Lycodon mackinnoni Wall 1906 (Serpentes: Colubridae), pp. 305-320 in Zootaxa 4966 (3) on pages 309-313, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4966.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/4736661, {"references":["Wall, F. (1906) A new Himalayan snake (Lycodon mackinnoni). Journal of Bombay Natural Hisory Society, 17, 29 - 30.","Smith, M. A. (1943) The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia. 3. Serpentes. 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