You are here » home › advanced search › Platyceps ventromaculatus

Platyceps ventromaculatus (GRAY, 1834)

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Platyceps ventromaculatus?

Add your own observation of
Platyceps ventromaculatus »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesPlatyceps ventromaculatus ventromaculatus (GRAY 1834)
Platyceps ventromaculatus bengalensis (KHAN & KHAN 2000)
Platyceps ventromaculatus indusai (KHAN & KHAN 2000) 
Common NamesE: Hardwicke's Rat Snake, Glossy-bellied Racer
G: Gefleckte Zornnatter 
SynonymColuber ventromaculatus GRAY 1834: 80
Zamenis ventrimaculatus — GÜNTHER 1859: 223
Zamenis ventrimaculatus — BOULENGER 1887: 408 (?)
Zamenis ventrimaculatus — BOULENGER 1893: 399
Zamenis ventrimaculatus BOULENGER 1920
Coluber ventrimaculatus CORKILL 1932
Coluber ventromaculatus — HAAS 1957: 79
Coluber ventromaculatus — MINTON 1966
Haemorrhois ventromaculatus
Eremiophis ventromaculatus ?
Coluber ventromaculatus —SCHÄTTI & WILSON 1986
Coluber ventromaculatus — GASPERETTI 1988: 216
Coluber ventromaculatus — DAS 1996: 55
Platyceps ventromaculatus — SCHÄTTI & MONSCH 2004
Argyrogena ventromaculatus — SHARMA 2004
Coluber ventromaculatus — WHITAKER & CAPTAIN 2004
Platyceps ventromaculatus — NAGY et al. 2004
Platyceps ventromaculatus — GRUBER 2009: 126
Coluber ventromaculatus — MURTHY 2010
Platyceps cf. ventromaculatus — SINDACO et al. 2014
Platyceps ventromaculatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 568

Platyceps ventromaculatus bengalensis (KHAN & KHAN 2000)
Coluber ventromaculatus bengalensis KHAN & KHAN 2000
Coluber ventromaculatus bengalensis — KHAN 2003
Platyceps ventromaculatus bengalensis — KHAN 2017

Platyceps ventromaculatus indusai (KHAN & KHAN 2000)
Coluber ventromaculatus indusai KHAN & KHAN 2000
Coluber ventromaculatus indusai — KHAN 2003
Platyceps ventromaculatus indusai — KHAN 2017 
DistributionSW Asia from N India (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab [Dino Aulakh, pers. comm.], Jammu and Kashmir) to SE Turkey (Anatolia), Pakistan, U.S.S.R., Afghanistan (LEVITON 1959: 461), Jordan (Disi 1993),
Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia (along the Arabian sea), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar

bengalensis: Pakistan; Type locality: Bengal, description from fig 1 Plate 80 of Gray 1830-35.

indusai: Pakistan (Indus valley)

Type locality: Upper and lower Indus Valley.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype, BMNH 1946.1.11.42, female (T. Hardwicke)
Holotype: lost [bengalensis]
Holotype: not given [indusai] 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS (bengalensis): (based on the figured snake) 9 supralabials, 5- 6th in eye, 10-11 infralabials; approximately 220 ventrals; 70 divided subcaudals; a median dorsal row of 60+, 1-2 scale thick dark cross bands, much narrower than interspaces, replaced on tail by irregular narrow transverse streaks formed by approximation of dark edges of adjascent scales; distinct narrow orbito- labial and temporal stripes, an irregular interorbital cross band, few dark spots on temporals and a distinct median dorsal, one scale thick, nuchal streak. Ventrals with a lateral row of round dark spots on each side.


Additional details (5137 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: KHAN & KHAN (2000) didn’t specify any neotype for their new subspecies which are based on a figure in GRAY 1830. The status of these subspecies therefore remains uncertain (no holotype specified; no valid description after ICZN). BARABANOV (2002) indicated that the name C. v. bengalensis is not available and suggested the replacement name C. v. khanorum. Schätti et al. (2014: 310) stated that “the descriptions of two new subspecies of Gray’s Racer (Khan & Khan, 2000) are either invalid (indusai) or junior objective synonyms (bengalensis and the nomen novum khano­rum [= bengalensis] Barabanov, 2002) of P. ventromaculatus (Gray)”.

Synonymy: the status of Platyceps ventromaculatus has been unclear for a long time. Wall (1914) “found no option but to unite C.[oluber] ventromaculatus with C. rhodorachis to settle this taxonomic tangle.”

Distribution: See map in SCHÄTTI et al. 2014: 375. See map in Burriel-Carranza et al. 2019 for map in UAE. Despite the almost complete absence of precise collecting sites for Platyceps ventromaculatus from low-lying northwestern India, Schätti et al. (2014: 377) regard this species and P. r. rhodorachis to be largely parapatric (see their Figs 11, 15 and 25). In Qatar fide Wikipedia. 
References
  • Al-Quran, S. 2009. The Herpetofauna of the Southern Jordan. American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 6 (4): 385-391 [this journal has a dubious record, see http://goo.gl/81SBPv]
  • Aloufi, A., Al Zayer, M., & Amr, Z. S. 2023. Reptiles and Amphibians along the Coastal Area of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Ecologica Montenegrina, 68, 66-87 - get paper here
  • Aspinall, Simon, and Drew Gardner. 2007. Snakes alive: Gray's Racer Snake Platyceps cf. ventromaculatus, (Gray 1834) Sensu Schatti and Schmitz 2006, on Sir Bani Yas and Dalma Islands. Tribulus: Journal of the Emirates Natural History Group 17:85-86 - get paper here
  • Baig, KJ, Masroor, R., and Arshad, M. 2008. Biodiversity and ecology of the herpetofauna of Cholistan Desert, Pakistan. Russ. J. Herpetol. 15 (3): 193-205 - get paper here
  • Baloucha, Sara; Muhammad Raisb, Iftikhar Hussainc, Ayesha Akramd 2016. Squamate diversity in different croplands of District Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of King Saud University - Science, doi:10.1016/j.jksus.2016.01.003 - get paper here
  • Barabanov, Andrei 2003. Taxonomic status of Coluber ventromaculatus bengalensis Khan et Khan, 2000 (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae). Russ. J. Herpetol. 9 (3):255 [2002] - get paper here
  • Baran, I. 1982. Zur Taxonomie der Schlangen in Südost- und Ost-Anatolien. Spixiana 5 (1): 51-59 - get paper here
  • Blyth, E. 1860. Report of Curator, Zoological Department. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 24: 87-115 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1887. A list of the reptiles and batrachians obtained near Muscat, Arabia, and presented to the British Museum by Surgeon-Major A.S.G. Jayakar. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 20: 407-408 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. - get paper here
  • BOURQUIN, O. 2011. The terrestrial reptiles of Sir Bani Yas Island, United Arab Emirates. African Herp News (53): 27-34 - get paper here
  • Brown, Bish. 1991. A new snake for the UAE. Tribulus: Bulletin of the Emirates Natural History Group 1(2):28 - get paper here
  • Burriel-Carranza B, Pedro Tarroso, Johannes Els, Andrew Gardner, Pritpal Soorae, Ahmed Ali Mohammed, Sai Ravi Krishna Tubati, Mohamed Mustafa Eltayeb, Junid Nazeer Shah, Héctor Tejero-Cicuéndez, Marc Simó-Riudalbas, Juan Manuel Pleguezuelos, Daniel F 2019. An integrative assessment of the diversity, phylogeny, distribution, and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles (Sauropsida, Squamata) of the United Arab Emirates. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0216273 - get paper here
  • Corkill, N. L. and Cochrane, J. A. 1966. The snakes of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 62 (3): 475-506 (1965) - get paper here
  • Disi, A M 1993. A contribution to the herpetofauna of Jordan: 5. New records of three colubrid snakes from Jordan. The Snake 25 (2): 109-113
  • Egan, D. 2007. Snakes of Arabia. Motivate Publishing, Dubai, 208 pp.
  • Eissa, S.M. & EL ASSY, Y.S. 1975. Record of certain reptilian species found in Kuwait. Jour. Univ. Kuwait (Sci.), 2: 123-146 - get paper here
  • Gardner, A.S. 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Oman and the UAE. Edition Chimaira, 480 pp.
  • Gasperetti,J. 1988. Snakes of Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 9: 169-450
  • Gray. J. E. 1834. Illustrations of Indian Zoology, chiefly selected from the collection of Major - General Hardwicke. Vol. 2. London (1833-1834): 263 pp., 95 plates - get paper here
  • Gruber, U. 2009. Die Schlangen Europas, 2. Aufl. Kosmos Naturführer, 266 pp.
  • Günther,A. 1859. On the geographical distribution of reptiles. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 3: 221-237 - get paper here
  • Haas G. and Werner, Y. L. 1969. Lizards and snakes from Southwestern Asia, collected by Henry Field. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 138: 327-406. - get paper here
  • Haas, Georg 1957. Some amphibians and reptiles from Arabia. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 29 (3): 47-86 - get paper here
  • Jablonski, D., Basit, A., Farooqi, J., & Masroor, R. 2022. First record of the colubrid snake Platyceps ventromaculatus (Reptilia: Colubridae) for Afghanistan. Zoology in the Middle East, 1-3 - get paper here
  • Jamal, Qaisar; Muhammad Idrees, Saif Ullah, Muhammad Adnan, Farrah Zaidi, Qaiser Zaman, and Syed Basit Rasheed 2018. Diversity and Altitudinal Distribution of Squamata in Two Distinct Ecological Zones of Dir, A Himalayan Sub-Zone of Northern Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool., vol. 50(5), pp 1835-1839 - get paper here
  • Jangid, Ashish Kumar; Ravi Kumar Sharma and Abhijit Das 2021. Annotated checklist with distribution summary of Snakes of Jawai Community Conservation Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Journal of Animal Diversity 3 (4): 1-13 - get paper here
  • Jongbloed, M. 2000. Field Guide to the reptiles and amphibians of the UAE - Wild about reptiles. Barkers Trident Communications, 116 pp.
  • Khan, M. S. & A. Q. Khan 2000. Three new subspecies of snakes of genus Coluber from Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool., 32 (1): 49-52 - get paper here
  • Khan, M.S. 1986. A noteworthy collection of Amphibians and reptiles from North- Western Punjab, Pakistan. The Snake 18: 118-125
  • Leviton,A.E.; Anderson,S.C.; Adler, K.; Minton,S.A. 1992. Handbook to Middle East Amphibians and Reptiles. SSAR, Oxford, Ohio (Contr. to Herpetol. No. 8), 1-252
  • Maheta, J., Thakor, R., Shankhala, P., Prajapati, D., Zala, A., Bharavad, L., ... & Patel, S. 2023. Updated checklist of snakes with the first record of Spalerosophis arenarius in Gujarat and range extensions of five fpecies of snakes in the northern region of Gujarat, India. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18403 - get paper here
  • Masroor, R. 2012. A Contribution to the Herpetology of Northern Pakistan. SSAR, Ithaca [review in JoTT 4(6): 2670] - get paper here
  • Minton, S. A. Jr. 1966. A contribution to the herpetology of West Pakistan. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 134: 29-184. - get paper here
  • Moradi, S. H., Pouyani, R., Hosseinian Yousefkhani, S. S., & Zargan, J. 2022. Phenotypic and geographic variation among populations of the Platyceps rhodorachis-ventromaculatus species complex (Ophidia: Colubridae) in Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics - get paper here
  • Murthy, T.S.N. 2010. The reptile fauna of India. B.R. Publishing, New Delhi, 332 pp.
  • Nagy, Z.T.; R. Lawson, U. Joger, M. Wink 2004. Molecular systematics of racers, whipsnakes and relatives (Reptilia: Colubridae) using mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 42 (3): 223-233 - get paper here
  • Narayanan, A.; K. Satyanarayan 2012. Glossy-bellied racer snake Platyceps ventromaculatus (Gray, 1834) (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae): New locality record in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), India. Check List 8(6):1356-1358 - get paper here
  • Nikolsky, A. M. 1897. Les reptiles, amphibiens et poissons recueillis (part.) Mr. N. Zaroudny dans la Perse orientale [in Russian]. Annuaire Musée Zoologique de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St.-Pétersbourg 2: 306-348 - get paper here
  • Patel, Harshil; and Raju Vyas 2019. Reptiles of Gujarat, India: Updated Checklist, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Herpetology Notes 12: 765-777 - get paper here
  • Patel, Harshil; Raju Vyas, Vaibhav Naik, Bhautik Dudhatra & Shantilal K. Tank 2018. Herpetofauna of the Northern Western Ghats of Gujarat, India. Zoology and Ecology, DOI: 10.1080/21658005.2018.1499237 - get paper here
  • Rais, Muhammad; Ayesha Akram, Syeda Maria Ali, Muhammad Arslan Asadi, Misbah Jahangir, Muhammad Jawad Jilani, <br>and Maqsood Anwar 2015. Qualitative Analysis of Factors Influencing the Diversity and Spatial Distribution of Herpetofauna in Chakwal Tehsil (Chakwal District), Punjab, Pakistan. Herp. Cons. Biol. 10 (3) - get paper here
  • RASTEGAR-POUYANI, NASRULLAH; HAJI GHOLI KAMI, MEHDI RAJABZADEH, SOHEILA SHAFIEI AND STEVEN CLEMENT ANDERSON 2008. Annotated Checklist of Amphibians and Reptiles of Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics 4 (1): 7-30
  • Rhadi, Fadhel Aabbas;Rihab Ghaleb Mohammed, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani,Eskandar Rastegar-Pouyani, Seyyed Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani 2017. On the Snake Fauna of Central and Southern Iraq and Some Zoogeographic Remarks. Russ. J. Herpetol. 24 (4): 251-266 - get paper here
  • Sahi D.N., Koul S. 2020. Annotated List of Amphibians and Reptiles of Jammu and Kashmir State. In: Dar G. & Khuroo A. (eds) Biodiversity of the Himalaya: Jammu and Kashmir State. Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation, vol 18. Springer, Singapore - get paper here
  • Şahin, Mehmet Kürşat; Musa Geçit, Mehmet Zülfü Yıldız 2021. New Locality Record Extending the Distribution of the Glossy-Bellied Racer Snake Platyceps Ventromaculatus (gray, 1834) in the Southeastern Anatolia. Journal of Animal Diversity 2 (4): - get paper here
  • Schätti B. & Monsch, P. 2004. Systematics and phylogenetic relationships of Whip snakes (Hierophis Fitzinger) and Zamenis andreana Werner 1917 (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubrinae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 111 (2): 239-256 - get paper here
  • Schätti B; Wilson L D 1986. Coluber Linnaeus. Holarctic racers. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 399: 1-4 - get paper here
  • SCHÄTTI, B. 2006. Racer populations from the Levant to the Caspian region referred to Platyceps ventromaculatus (Gray, 1834) (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubrinae). Revue suisse de Zoologie 113 (3): 675-691 - get paper here
  • Schätti, B. & A. Schmitz 2006. Re-assessing Platyceps ventromaculatus (Gray, 1834) (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubrinae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 113 (4): 747-768 - get paper here
  • Schätti, B., Kucharzewski, C., Masroor, R. & Rastegar Puuyani, E. 2012. Platyceps karelini (Brandt, 1838) from Iran to Pakistan and revalidation of Coluber chesneii Martin, 1838 (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubrinae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 119 (4): 441-483
  • Schmidt,K.P. 1939. Reptiles and amphibians from Southwestern Asia. Publ. Field Mus. nat. Hist., zool. Ser., 24: 49-92 - get paper here
  • Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. AKHIL BOOKS, New Delhi, 292 pp.
  • Shehzad, M., Ullah, F., Khan, S. N., Majid, A., Rais, M., Khan, M. A., ... & Khan, S. 2023. Squamate Fauna of Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Tank and Lakki Marwat Districts), Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool. 2023: 1-7 - get paper here
  • Sindaco, Roberto; Alberto Venchi, Giuseppe M. Carpaneto, Marco A. Bologna 2000. The Reptiles of Anatolia: a Checklist and Zoogeographical analysis. Biogeographia, 21-2000: 441-554. - get paper here
  • Sindaco, Roberto; Riccardo Nincheri, Benedetto Lanza 2014. Catalogue of Arabian reptiles in the collections of the “La Specola” Museum, Florence. Scripta Herpetologica. Studies on Amphibians and Reptiles in honour of Benedetto Lanza: pp. 137-164 - get paper here
  • Singh J, Dutta S.K., Singh H 2021. Herpetofauna of Punjab: The Field Guide. New Era Book Agency, Chandigarh, 82 pp.
  • Stoliczka, F. 1870. Observations on some Indian and Malayan Amphibia and Reptilia. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 39: 134-228. - get paper here
  • Tiedemann, Franz 1991. First record of Acanthodactylus opheodurus Arnold, 1980, and Coluber ventromaculatus Gray, 1834 (Squamata: Lacertidae, Colubridae) from the United Arab Emirates. Herpetozoa 4 (3/4): 167-175 - get paper here
  • Venchi, Alberto and Roberto Sindaco 2006. Annotated checklist of the reptiles of the Mediterranean countries, with keys to species identification. Part 2 -Snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes). Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale "G. Doria", Genova, XCVIII: 259-364
  • Vyas, Raju 2007. Present conservation scenario of reptile fauna in Gujarat State, India. Indian Forester, Oct 2007: 1381-1394 - get paper here
  • Vyas, Raju 2011. Priliminary Survey on Reptiles of Jassore Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat State, India. Russ. J. Herpetol. 18 (3): 210-214 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Whitaker, Romulus and Ashok Captain 2004. Snakes of India. Draco Books, 500 pp., reprinted 2007 - get paper here
  • Yildiz, M.Z. 2011. Distribution and morphology of Platyceps ventromaculatus (Gray, 1834) (Serpentes: Colubridae) in south-eastern Anatolia, Turkey. North-Western Journal of Zoology 7 (2): 291-296 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator