Achalinus yunkaiensis Wang, Li & Wang 2019
Creators: name: Xu, Yuhao
name: Chen, Mengci
name: Ma, Shun
name: Shi, Shengchao
name: Zhang, Tianyou
name: Weng, Shiyang
name: Peng, Lifang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Squamata
Xenodermidae
Achalinus
Achalinus yunkaiensis

description: Achalinus yunkaiensis Wang, Li & Wang, 2019
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: QHU 2024027; associatedSequences: GenBank: PQ 281492; occurrenceID: 9FDEAC40-C043-5D14-9EE7-ECF9CD3339AE; Taxon: scientificName: Achalinus yunkaiensis; order: Squamata; family: Xenodermidae; genus: Achalinus; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Guizhou; county: Xifeng; verbatimElevation: 1300 m; verbatimCoordinates: 27°09'07"N, 106°37'49"E; Event: eventDate: 07-06-2024
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ZTY-r 2023003; occurrenceID: 33281C61-8089-5F65-BFF2-7C5FB93F6835; Taxon: scientificName: Achalinus yunkaiensis; order: Squamata; family: Xenodermidae; genus: Achalinus; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Hunan; county: Dongan; verbatimElevation: 871 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°40'56"N, 111°18'50"E; Event: eventDate: 25-07-2023
Description of the specimen from Guizhou Province (QHU 2024027)
Measurements and scalation. The measurements and scalation characters of A. yunkaiensis are listed in Table 3. Body slender and cylindrical; head slightly wider than neck; eye small, ED 0.9 mm; rostrum small, triangular, slightly visible from above; the suture between internasals subequal to the suture between prefrontals, LSBI 1.3 mm, LSBP 1.2 mm, LSBI / LSBP ratio 1.1; nasal divided into two sections by nasal cleft, nostril in the anterior part of the nasal; prefrontals paired; frontal one, pentagonal, pointed to the rear, slightly wider than high, much shorter than the parietals; one loreal, subrectangular, wider than high, exact measurements are impossible due to injury; supraocular one, pentagonal; TEMP 8 / 7, arranged in three rows (2 + 2 + 4 in left and 2 + 2 + 3 in right), the anterior two in contact with the eye; six supralabials, the 4 th – 5 th contacting the eye, the last one much elongated; two pairs of chin shields, the anterior pair almost equal to the posterior pair, followed by preventrals; one mental; 6 / 5 infralabials, the first pair in contact with each other after the mental and before the 1 st chin shields, 1 st – 4 th touching the first pair of chin shields on left and 1 st – 3 rd touching the first pair of chin shields on the right.
Dorsal scales strongly keeled, 23 rows throughout the body, the outermost row smooth and substantially enlarged. VS 146; anal entire; SC 59, not paired.
Colouration in life. In life, all scales tinged weakly iridescent. Dorsum brown and the five innermost dorsal scale rows a little darker, forming an inconspicuous longitudinal vertebral line from posterior margin of the parietals to tail tip. Head scales in dorsal view the same colour as the dorsum and dorsal darker than lateral. Eyes completely black, pupil vertically subelliptic. Supralabials mostly brownish. Mental, infralabials, chin shields brown. Ventral ground colour of body and tail generally pale greyish-white and darker laterally. The posterior margins of ventral scales are greyish-white (Fig. 4).
Colouration in preservation. In preservation, colouration darkens. Dorsum taupe, the longitudinal vertebral line almost disappearing. The colouration of venter is fading and becomes pale brownish-grey (Fig. 5).
Distribution and habits
Achalinus yunkaiensis is currently known from several locations in China, including Maoming City, Guangdong Province; Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; Yongzhou and Shaoyang City, Hunan Province; Guiyang City, Guizhou Province; and Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, at elevations ranging from 425 to 1600 m a. s. l. (Fig. 1). The species usually prefers to hide under rocks, decaying wood or fallen leaves and the surrounding environment is untouched subtropical monsoon forests.
description: Published as part of Xu, Yuhao, Chen, Mengci, Ma, Shun, Shi, Shengchao, Zhang, Tianyou, Weng, Shiyang & Peng, Lifang, 2025, First description of the female and morphological variation of Achalinus hunanensis Ma, Shi, Xiang, Shu & Jiang, 2023 (Serpentes, Xenodermidae), with range extension of this species and A. yunkaiensis Wang, Li & Wang, 2019, pp. e 138423 in Biodiversity Data Journal 13 on page e138423, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.13.e138423