Lycodon liuchengchaoi Zhang, Jiang, Vogel & Rao, 2011, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Zhang, Jun
name: Jiang, Ke
name: Vogel, Gernot
name: Rao, Dingqi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Colubridae
Lycodon
Lycodon liuchengchaoi

description: Lycodon liuchengchaoi sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–5; Tables 1–2)
Holotype. CWNU 867001 (Figs. 1–3), an adult male from Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve (32.5439°N, 104.8322°E, elevation 1360m), Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, P. R. China. Collected by Qixiang Deng in July, 1986.
Paratypes. CWNU 84002, an adult female, collected from an elevation of 1230 m in the Tangjiahe, by Qixiang Deng on the same date as holotype; FMNH 15148, Monping, Szechwan (=Baoxing County, Sichuan Province), collected by Herbert Stevens, 28 August 1929.
Diagnosis. Lycodon liuchengchaoi sp. nov. is distinguished from all other species of Lycodon by the following combination of characters: (1) 17 dorsal scale rows at midbody, several median rows feebly keeled; (2) 7–8 supralabials, the third and fourth or the third to fifth entering eye; (3) loreal entering orbit but not in contact with internasals; (4) anal divided; (5) more than 40 well-defined yellow rings evenly spaced along the entire length of the black body, and more than 10 yellow rings evenly spaced along the black tail; (6) hemipenis not forked at the tip.
In terms of pattern, L. liuchengchaoi is most similar to L. fasciatus except for the fact that the bands are yellow instead of whitish-brown or cream, but differs by the following traits: seven supralabials in two of the three specimens, the third and fourth entering orbit (in one case the third, fourth and fifth) (eight supralabials in all 72 specimens of L. fasciatus examined by us except one, which has 9 on one side, with the third, fourth and fifth entering eye); usually 8 infralabials (L. fasciatus usually 9); anal divided (anal entire in L. fasciatus); hemipenis has no nick at the tip (hemipenis of L. fasciatus has a nick at the tip, Fig. 4).
Description of the holotype. Adult male; SVL: 595 mm, TaL: 152 mm, ratio TaL/TL: 0.203; head length 14.35 mm, head width 10.1 mm; head distinct from neck, distinctly flattened; snout projects beyond lower jaw; body subcylindrical; vertebral ridge poorly developed; maxillary teeth 8, last group with 2 teeth and enlarged. Rostral large, triangular, about 1.5 times as broad as deep; its portion visible from above measuring a little less than 1/ 4 of its distance from frontal; internasals subtriangular and slightly broader than long; laterally in contact with nasal; prefrontals 1.1 times wider than long, not in contact with orbit but with loreal; prefrontal suture obviously longer than internasal suture; frontal subtriangular, long and wide slightly equal; parietals about 1.65 times longer than broad, parietal suture obviously longer than frontal suture; nasal divided, nostril in the anterior nasal; loreals rectangular, about 1.9 times longer than broad, contacting orbit; preocular 1/1, upward; distance between eye and snout tip 1.9 times eye diameter; pupil elliptical; postoculars 2; temporals 2+2/2+2; supralabials 7/7, first supralabial in contact with rostral and nasal, second supralabial in contact with nasal and loreal, third and fourth entering eye, fifth in contact with postocular and anterior temporal, sixth in contact with lower anterior and lower posterior temporal, seventh in contact with posterior temporal; infralabial 8/8, first pair in contact along midline, first five infralabials in contact with chin shield; posterior chin shield slightly shorter and narrower than anterior, in broad contact. Dorsal scale rows 17-17-15; dorsal scales small and feebly keeled in median several rows close with the ridge (invisible on neck); ventrals 204, angulated weakly; anal divided; subcaudals 68/68+1; The dorsal scale rows reduction formula is:
3+4⊣3 (145)
17 ———————— 15 3+4⊣3 (147)
The scale reduction formula on the tail as:
3+4⊣3 (18) 2+3⊣2 (30)
8 —————— 6 —————— 4 3+4⊣3 (17) 2+3⊣2 (31)
Hemipenis is fairly short and thin, extends to the eighth subcaudal, and the origin of m. retractor penis magnus to the twenty-fifth subcaudal. Hemipenis spinose, with small spines all over the organ, spines enlarged at the base of organ. The simple sulcus is prominent. No nick at the tip.
Coloration (in formalin): Crown largely black, except for a yellow crossband across the occipital region, faint or incomplete along the midline; underside of head pale yellow, except for more or less black on mental, anterior chin-shield, and first five infralabials. Dorsal surface of body and tail black with 40 jagged-edged, brownish-yellow rings on the body, and 10 on the tail. All the rings are 2 to 3 dorsal scales wide, except for the first which is only a scale-length in width. The yellow rings extend across the belly as wide as 2 to 4 ventral plates, other ventrals are black.
Variation. The holotype and the paratypes are similar in general aspects. The differences are summarised in Table 1.
Taxon Maximum total Relative tail length Ventrals
length [mm]
Males Females Males Females Males Females Lycodon fasciatus + 894 679 0.198–0.225 0.190–0.219 190–211 182–219 (n = 67) (? = 0.208) (? = 0.204) (? = 202,3) (? = 205.3)
(s = 0.007) (s = 0.009) (s = 5.3) (s = 8.6) Lycodon gongshan 963 762 0.231–0.232 0.215 210–216 215 (n = 4) (? = 0.232) (? = 212.7)
(s = 0.0002) (s = 3.1)
Lycodon synaptor unknown 487 unknown 0.189–0.192 unknown 201–203 (n = 2) (? = 0.190) (? = 202)
(s = 0.002) (s = 1.4) Lycodon liuchengchaoi 676 615 0.203 0.218 202–204 206 (n = 3)
Lycodon cardamomensis * 893 545 0.203–0.206** 0.200** 215–222 223 (n = 4) (? = 0.205) (? = 218.5)
(s = 0.002) (s = 4.9)
continued.
Etymology. The species is named after Dr. Cheng-chao Liu (now spelled Chengzhao Liu; 1900–1976), one of the founders of modern Chinese herpetology. Since 1938, Dr. Liu taught in West China Union University (West China University of Medical Science later) until the end of his life, and established the Department of Herpetology in Chengdu Institute of Biology in the 1960s. His best-known book “Amphibians of Western China ” was published in 1950. He contributed substantially to the taxonomy and life history of amphibians and reptiles.
Biology. The holotype (CWNU867001) and one of the paratypes (CWNU84002) were found on the floor of broad-leaved deciduous forest at night. They were associated with random riprap and duff, not far from a forest stream. Many scales of Sphenomorphus indicus (Gray, 1853) were found in the intestine of CWNU84002. This lizard species was common at the collecting site.
Distribution. Known only from the localities of the holotype and paratypes, Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve on the northern edge of Sichuan Basin, in Mount Min System and Monping (Baoxing County) in Mount Qionglai System (Fig. 5).
description: Published as part of Zhang, Jun, Jiang, Ke, Vogel, Gernot & Rao, Dingqi, 2011, A new species of the genus Lycodon (Squamata, Colubridae) from Sichuan Province, China, pp. 59-68 in Zootaxa 2982 on pages 60-64, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.207722