Rhabdophis kaiyuanensis QIN, BIN, XINHONG, YANGMEI & PENG, 2023
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Rhabdophis kaiyuanensis?
Rhabdophis kaiyuanensis
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Kaiyuan Keelback Chinese: 开远颈槽蛇 (Kaiyuan Jingcao She) |
| Synonym | Rhabdophis kaiyuanensis QIN, BIN, XINHONG, YANGMEI & PENG 2023 |
| Distribution | China (Yunnan) Type locality: Yangjie Town, Kaiyuan City, Yunnan Province, China |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: YBU 14271, Adult female, collected in July 2014 by Guanghui Zhong at an elevation of 1, 600 m (Fig. 1). Paratypes: YBU series 14062, 14270, 14273, adult females; YBU 14272, adult male. Same locality and date as the holotype. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. Rhabdophis kaiyuanensis sp. nov. can be morphologically diagnosed from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: 1) body large, up to 758 mm; 2) supralabials 6, 3rd and 4th touching eye, 5th largest; 3) infralabials 8, first four in contact with anterior chin-shields; 4) dorsal scales in 17-15(17)-15 rows, feebly keeled, or outer one or two rows smooth; 5) ventrals 147-153; 6) subcaudals 44-58, paired; 7) black oblique bands in supralabials absent. (Qin et al. 2023) |
| Comment | The first two published pdf versions of the Qin et al. paper did not have a Zoobank registration (at least not at the time this database release was finalized, Aug 31, 2023), hence, technically, the species name has not been validly published. |
| Etymology | The name “kaiyuan” is in reference to the type locality of the new 287 species. |
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