Lycodon obvelatus WANG, YU, VOGEL & CHE, 2020
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Lycodon obvelatus
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Recluse Wolf Snake Chinese: 隐士白环蛇 (Pinyin: Yin Shi Bai Huan She) |
| Synonym | Lycodon obvelatus WANG, YU, VOGEL & CHE 2020 Lycodon fasciatus — DENG et al. 1991 Lycodon fasciatus — WU et al. 1997 Lycodon fasciatus — ZHAO et al. 1997 Lycodon fasciatus — ZHAO 2002 Lycodon fasciatus — ZHAO 2003 Lycodon fasciatus — ZHAO 2006 |
| Distribution | China (Sichuan: Panzhihua City Park, possibly NC Yunnan) Type locality: Panzhihua City Park, Panzhihua, Sichuan, China (26.5751º N, 101.7174º E, WGS84, elevation 1243m) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: KIZ 040146, adult male, collected by Kai Wang and Benfu Miao on 19 April, 2018. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Lycodon obvelatus can be diagnosed from congeners by a combination of the following characters: (1) body size small, ToL 551mm; (2) tail moderate, TaL 18.9% ToL; (3) dorsal scale rows 17-17-15, all smooth; (4) VEN 199; (6) SC 76; (7) cloacal plate entire; (8) loreal long and narrow, entering orbit; (9) SL 8, 2-3-3; (10) IL 8(4 or 5); (11) preocular single, in contact with supraocular and prefrontal; (12) postocular 2; (13) temporal 2+2 or 2+3; (14) paraparietal enlarged, single; (15) frontal bordering 4 nuchal scales; (16) maxillary teeth 11 in four groups (7-1-1-2), seventh largest, first gap widest, four times wide as distance between first two teeth; (17) hemipenis single clavate, nip at distal end, spinose except very proximal end; spines larger toward proximal end; (18) distinct collar band present on occipital head, Salmon Color (Color 251); (18) dorsal Jet Black (Color 300) in life, with 31 Salmon Color (Color 251) cross-bands on dorsum, 13 on tail; (19) cross-bands with serrated edges, 2- or 3-scale broad medially, widen slightly toward ventrolateral side; (20) first dorsal cross-band at 4th ventral scale, DHB 14.1mm; and (21) ventral pale Salmon Color (Color 251), with more or less regular black transverse bands and some irregular speckles (Wang et al. 2021). |
| Comment | Diet: The holotype was found actively hunting for geckos on a stone parapet at night (Wang et al. 2021). Similar species: Lycodon fasciatus Conservation: Although the type locality is at the center of a major city (about 10.8 million people), the oasis in the city park provides habitats for a surprisingly diverse group of reptiles and amphibians. The natural habitats around the Panzhihua City have been deforested in the mid 1900s, and the self-recovering process of the fragile valley ecosystem is particularly slow. The City Park of Panzhihua preserved few of the remaining natural montane evergreen forests in the area, which provide important habitats for local wildlife. The discovery of the new species highlights the conservation importance of the remaining habitats in the city park. Unfortunately, the current maintenance practice of the park is not ecofriendly, with rapid developments for tourist infrastructure, replacements of native plants with exotic horticultural plants, and the wide usage of pesticides. We recommend the park modify its current practices and conserve the remaining natural habitats for the native wildlife (Wang et al. 2021). |
| Etymology | The Latin species name, obvelatus, means “hidden” or “concealed”, which not only describes the taxonomic confusions of the cryptic new species over L. fasciatus, but it also highlights the fact that new species can be hidden even in major urban areas. |
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