Trimerodytes praemaxillaris (ANGEL, 1929)
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Trimerodytes praemaxillaris
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Angel’s Mountain Keelback, Brown Stream Snake G: Braune Bachnatter Chinese: 老挝副后棱蛇 |
| Synonym | Paratapinophis praemaxillaris ANGEL 1929: 78 Opisthotropis praemaxillaris — POPE 1935 Opisthotropis premaxillaris [sic] — SMITH 1943: 332 Opisthotropis premaxillaris [sic] — BROWN & LEVITON 1961 Opisthotrophis praemaxillaris [sic] — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 35 Paratapinophis premaxillaris — MURPHY et al. 2008 Opisthotrophis praemaxillaris — LI et al. 2010 Opisthotropis premaxillaris — PYRON & BURBRINK 2013 Paratapinophis praemaxillaris — WALLACH et al. 2014: 534 Opisthotrophis praemaxillaris — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 225 Trimerodytes praemaxillaris — DEEPAK et al. 2022 |
| Distribution | N Laos, Thailand, China (Yunnan) Type locality: Chieng-Kuang, upper Laos [19º 52' N, 103º 20' E]. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Syntypes: MNHN-RA 1928.0063-0064 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): in Paratapinophis the head is distinct from the neck; the scale ornamentation (keels) is unique in that each scale has a middle row of tubercles (as opposed to a continuous keel or a serrated keel); the scale ornamentation is sexually dimorphic (they occur only on the posterior body of the males); the color and pattern is sexually dimorphic; the body is large and robust; the maxillary tooth count is low (18–20); and there are two pair of posterior chin shields. [...] these character states are not found in Opisthotropis and Parahelicops (from MURPHY et al. 2008). |
| Comment | Synonymy: Ren et al. 2019 suggest that Paratapinophis is a synonym of Trimerodytes based on morphology but did not provide any molecular data. Deepak et al. 2022 published a 496 bp fragment of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA, which is not much but it appears to confirm the assigment to Trimerodytes. Habitat: aquatic, inhabiting flowing streams. Diet: fishes, frogs, tadpoles, freshwater shrimp and earthworms. Type species: Paratapinophis premaxillaris ANGEL 1929 is the type species of the genus Paratapinophis ANGEL 1929. |
| Etymology | The name of the genus Paratapinophis apparently is derived from a suggestion by H. W. Parker at the BMNH. It is derived from the Greek “para” meaning along side or near, and the generic name Tapinophis Boulenger, 1899. Tapinophis is another genus that was synonomized with Opisthotropis by Pope (1935). Thus, Parker recognized some of the shared morphology between Paratapinophis, Opisthotropis, and Tapinophis Boulenger, 1899. |
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