Plagiopholis pluvialis CAI, XU & MA, 2025
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Plagiopholis pluvialis?
Plagiopholis pluvialis
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Pseudoxenodontinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Western China Mountain Snake” Chinese: 华西颈斑蛇 (huá xī jǐng bān shé) |
| Synonym | Plagiopholis pluvialis CAI, XU & MA in CAI et al. 2025: 1788 Trirhinopholis styani – STEJNEGER 1925 (part) Plagiopholis styani – DING & ZHENG 1974 (part) |
| Distribution | China (Sichuan) Type locality: Longdong Village, Huangwan Town, Emeishan City, Sichuan Province, China (29.5798°N, 103.2937°E, 1324 m a.s.l.). |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. CIB 119370 (field number EMS 202021), adult male, collected by the team of Bo Cai on 10 August 2020. Paratypes. Males (n = 14): CIB 10176 (field number 562244), CIB 10177 (field number 55494), CIB 10180 (field number 505119), CIB 10181 (field number 561771), CIB 10184 (field number 561773), CIB 10186 (field number 562156), CIB 10189 (field number 562153), CIB 10192 (field number 562171), CIB 10193 (field number 12014) were collected from Mt. Emei in Emeishan City, Sichuan Province, China; CIB 10188 (field number 715013) was collected from Hongya County. Meishan City, Sichuan Province, China; QHU 2024006 from Mt. Qingcheng, Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province, China; CIB XMG 2023001, Dujiangyan Panda Valley, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China; QHU 2024007 was collected from Anziping Village, Wenchuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. Females (n = 9): CIB 10178 (field number 562182), CIB 10179 (field number 562180), CIB 10182 (field number 562266), CIB 10185 (field number 561772), CIB 10187 (field number 561775), CIB 10191 (field number 562297), FMAEM were collected from Mt. Emei in Emeishan City, Sichuan Province, China; CIB CB25DY01, a roadkilled male, was collected from Dayi County in the Chengdu Section of Giant Panda National Park, Sichuan Province, China; SYS r002035 was collected from Baima Mountain Forest Farm, Bijie City, Guizhou Province. Juveniles (N = 2): CIB CB2024EMS001 was collected from Mt. Emei in Emeishan City, Sichuan Province, China; CIB 10183 (field number 595027) was collected from Hongya County, Meishan City, Sichuan Province, China. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (n=26): Plagiopholis pluvialis sp. nov. can be diagnosed from other Plagiopholis species by the following unique combination of characters: (1) no loreal (rarely 1), posterior nasal forming a suture with the single preocular; (2) two postoculars; (3) temporals 2+2 (rarely 2+1); (4) 6 supralabials, the 3rd and 4th entering the eye; (5) 6 infralabials; (6) maxillary teeth 18 in males; (7) dorsal scale smooth and rows 15-15-15; (8) ventral scales 102–110 in males and 114–122 in females; (9) anal entire; (10) subcaudal scales 26–31 in males and 16–26 in females; (11) longer tail length 40– 59 mm (mean 49 mm) in males, and shorter tail length 34–47 mm (mean 40 mm) in females; (12) larger TAL/ SVL ratio of 0.14–0.21 (mean 0.18) in males and lower TAL/SVL ratio of 0.12–0.15 (mean 0.14) in females; (13) hemipenis half divided, bilaterally symmetrical, the truncus spinulate throughout; (14) a relatively narrow, black-brown blotch is present on the neck, often inverted “V” shaped, across 2–3 dorsal scale rows; (15) dorsal surface of the body is olive, with some dorsal scale edges yellow and black, forming a reticulated pattern. (Cai et al. 2025) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 4792 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Distribution: for a map of localities see Cai et al. 2025: 1777 (Fig. 1). Synonymy: populations from Sichuan have previously been identified as P. styani. |
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