摘要
A new species of the Kukri snake genus Oligodon is described from Medog County in the eastern Himalayas of China. The species, named Oligodon zhangfujii sp. nov., can be distinguished from all known congeners by a combination of the following morphological characteristics:(1) 17-17-15 dorsal scale rows;(2) six supralabials, third and fourth entering orbit;(3) one loreal present;(4)seven infralabials, first to fourth in contact with anterior chin shields;(5) 173 ventral scales and 47 pairs of subcaudal scales;(6) cloacal plate divided;(7) hemipenis single, shallowly bilobed, with large calcareous spines and a calyx area, sulcus spermaticus single;and(8) eight maxillary teeth.Phylogenetic analyses based on two mitochondrial genes revealed that this species occupies an independent phylogenetic position, distinct from the eight recognized species groups within the genus, and represents a sister taxon to the clade comprising the O. theobaldi and O. cinereus groups.The description is based on a single road-killed individual. As such, ecological data for the species remain sparse, underscoring the need for additional field surveys across the eastern Himalayan region.
基金
supported by grants from National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFC2602500)
the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP) (2019QZKK0501)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (32200363, 32325011, 32220103004, 32300370, 32400361)
International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (071GJHZ2023041MI)
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M743416)
Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2023NSFSC1155, 2024NSFSC1180)
Taxonomist Position, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-TAX-24-051, CAS-TAX-24-052),Biological Resources Programme, Chinese Academy of Sciences (KFJ-BRP-017-086, KFJ-BRP-017-065)。
