Boiga flaviviridis Vogel & Ganesh, 2013, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Vogel, Gernot
name: Ganesh, S. R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Colubridae
Boiga
Boiga flaviviridis

description: Boiga flaviviridis sp. nov.
Boiga beddomei (non Dipsadomorphus beddomei Wall, 1909)—Sivakumar & Manakadan (2007) Boiga sp.—Ganesh & Asokan (2010)
Holotype. BMNH 1911.9.8.4, female (ventral tail base dissected), from Berhampore, state of Orissa, India (Fig. 1), 19° 18 57 N 84° 47 38 E, 31m asl, presented by Major Frank Wall in 1911.
Paratype. MAD 1913 an adult female (tail base examined) labeled as “ Dendrophis pictus ” from Udayagiri, Nellore [district], state of Andhra Pradesh, India, 14° 52 30 N 79° 17 52 E, 195 m asl., collector unknown.
Referred material. BNHS 3343 collected by S. Sivakumar and R. Manakadan from Sriharikota island, Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, 13° 43 0 4 N 80° 12 0 0 E, 11m asl.; and an unpreserved live specimen from Kaigal, in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, 12° 44 48 N 78° 20 39 E, 680 m asl.
Etymology. The new species is named flaviviridis [flavus = yellow and viridis = green in Latin] as an adjective, after its diagnostic in-life colouration that easily serves to identify this species. As a common name we suggest ‘Yellow-green cat snake’.
Diagnosis. A medium sized species of the genus Boiga characterized by: (1) 19 dorsal scale rows around the forepart of the body and 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody; (2) 248–259 ventrals; (3) 106–109 subcaudals in females; (4) a single anal scale; (5) 8 (rarely 9) supralabials with SL 3–5 touching the orbit; (6) preocular reaching upper surface of the head; (7) 2 temporals in the first row, 3 temporals in the second row with a total of 4 rows of temporal scales; (8) a yellowish-green dorsal ground colour; (9) more than 90 faint, hardly visible dark bands; (10) the dorsal part of the head with only faint ornamentations; (11) a postocular stripe ending at the jaw angle; (12) an uniform venter with no speckles or lines (13) relative tail length in females from 0.180 to 0.200.
The new species can easily be recognized by the combination of high number of ventral scales together with the colouration especially the uniform belly and a proportionately shorter tail than in other species of this group, see Table 1.
Description of holotype (Fig. 1). Rostral triangular, hardly visible from above; nasal completely divided, lower suture clearly visible, upper suture less clearly visible; nasal pentagonal, nostril central, nasal smaller than prefrontal; supraocular longer than prefrontal; parietal larger than frontal, frontal larger than prefrontals; prefrontals a bit larger than internasals. Loreal as long as high, smaller than internasals or prefrontals; 1 preocular, reaching the upper side of the head; 2 postoculars, upper one larger than lower one, especially on the right side; 8 supralabials on each side, first one trapezoidal, smallest, in contact with nasal, second supralabial subrectangular, in contact with nasal, loreal and preocular; third supralabial touching preocular and eye, fourth and fifth supralabial also touching eye, sixth and seventh supralabials largest; preocular in contact with prefrontal; 2 anterior temporals, bordering the postoculars; 3 temporals in the second row, 3 temporals and paraparietal in the third row; altogether 10 / 11 temporals (excluding the paraparietal) with 2 / 3 behind the third row; infralabials 12/10; first ones elongate and meeting behind mental at the mental groove; 5 infralabials touching the anterior chin shields, sixth / fifth and sixth touching posterior chin shield, mental triangular. Loreal 1.4 mm long, 1.45 mm high; supraocular 4.9 mm long; frontal 5.26 mm long; parietal 7.08 mm long; prefrontal 2.75 mm long; internasal 2.35 mm long.
Size. SVL: 715 mm; TaL: 175 +? mm, incomplete; TL: 890 mm excluding the missing tail tip.
Ventrals 258, weakly angulate and weakly notched laterally; preventral one, dorsals in 19/19/14 oblique rows, scales smooth without apical pits interscalar skin yellow. Vertebral scales larger than outermost scale row, anal entire; subcaudals 73, paired; tail tip missing.
Colouration in preservative. Dorsum greyish-green with 92 faint bands which are formed by the thin dark margins of the dorsal scales; head above with faint irregular markings, the dorsal scales in the neck with dark margins; a thin line extending from eye to just behind the corner of the mouth, extending from upper aspect of lower postocular, through lower edges of two temporals, upper edge of the 7th supralabial and diagonally through the middle of the 8th supralabial to the angle of the mouth; upper labials, lower labials and ventrals uniformly cream; tail coloured like the body dorsally, below with dark margins at those parts where the subcaudals meet, getting brown posteriorly.
Variation shown by paratype and referred material (Fig. 2; Table 1). In general, agreeing with the holotype in all aspects. Dorsal scale rows 19:19:13–15; ventrals 248–259; preventrals 1–3; subcaudals 106–109 pairs; upper labials 8–9 (3–5 touching eye); lower labials 10–12 (1–5 touching anterior chin shield); temporals 10–11; snout to vent length 662–805 mm; tail length 166–195 mm (data of BNHS 3343 from Sivakumar & Manakadan 2007 & Ashok Captain & Rahul Khot pers. comm.). All specimens are females.
Colouration in life based on BNHS 3343 & live specimen examined (Fig. 2; Table 1). Dorsum yellowishgreen, with dark black bars, that are wider on the vertebral region and converge towards the lateral sides; interscalar skin yellow; venter unpatterned, uniform yellow of a rich intensity; eyes with yellow iris and black vertical elliptic pupil; supralabials partly yellow; a black ocular streak present (also see Sivakumar & Manakadan 2007).
Distribution and natural history. The new species is currently known from the dry forest areas of eastern Peninsular India, from Berhampore near River Mahanadi, Orissa in the northeast, through Sriharikota Island and also Udayagiri hills, both present in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh state, westwards to Kaigal in southern Eastern Ghats, in Chittoor / Bangalore border in the southwest (Fig. 3). Boiga flaviviridis sp. nov. has been documented from close to sea-level (Berhampore, Sriharikota) to up to 700 m asl (Kaigal). The dominant natural climax vegetation type in eastern Peninsular India is tropical dry evergreen forest (Champion & Seth, 1968).
Little information is available on the natural history of this species. Sivakumar & Manakadan (2007) recorded BNHS 3343 from a Casuarina plantation with 90% canopy cover, situated at ca. 300 m from the Bay of Bengal shore. The snake’s microhabitat was a huge pile of palm leaves under a Borassus flabellifer [palmyra] tree. Sympatric congeners co-occurring with the new species throughout or in parts of its range are: B. trigonata examined (APPENDIX 1) and Wall (1909); other sources indicated. Exceptional values are placed in brackets. See
Material and Methods for abbreviations.
Characters Boiga Boiga Boiga Boiga Boiga Boiga Boiga
flaviviridis sp. beddomei ceylonensis ranawanei 1 barnesi2 andaman nuchalis nov. ensis
Midbody scale 19 19 19 19 19 21 21(23)
rows
Distribution Eastern Western Western Ghats, Kandy, Hilly South West Andaman Western
peninsular Ghats, Sri Sri Lankan Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Islands in the Ghats India Lanka Hills (wet zone) Bay of Bengal
1. Data from Samarawickrama et al., 2005.
2. Data from Smith, 1943.
3. From Samarawickrama et al., 2005, type and paratype only. 4. Holotype data only.
5. Data from one specimen in Günther, 1875.
6. Data from specimens in APPENDIX 1 and available pictures. 7. No data on number or form given, data taken from pictures in Samarawickrama et al., 2005. 8. S.R. Chandramouli pers. comm.
9. Own observations on live specimens (SRG).
(throughout the range), B. forsteni, ‘ B. nuchalis ’ and ‘ B. beddomei ’ (in Berhampore) (fide Wall 1911, Whitaker & Captain 2008). However, we caution that the ‘ B. nuchalis ’ and ‘ B. beddomei’ reported from Berhampore by Wall (1911) and Whitaker & Captain (2008) should be re-analaysed in light of the current work, which would most probably restrict their range in India to the Western Ghats. Like almost all of its congeners, the new species is a slow-moving, semi-arboreal and nocturnal species. It is not nervous or aggressive when handled (GV pers. obs.).
description: Published as part of Vogel, Gernot & Ganesh, S. R., 2013, A new species of cat snake (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae: Boiga) from dry forests of eastern Peninsular India, pp. 158-168 in Zootaxa 3637 (2) on pages 159-163, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3637.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/221046