Ahaetulla oxyrhynca (BELL, 1825)
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Ahaetulla oxyrhynca
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Ahaetuliinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Dryinus oxyrhyncus BELL 1825: 326 Dryinus russellianus BELL 1825: 327 Dryophis passericki SCHINZ 1834: 134 Dryinus rostratus SCHINZ 1834: 142 Dryophis mycterizans var. zephrogaster WALL 1910: 229 (see comment) Ahaetulla oxyrhyncha — MALLIK et al. 2020: 19 (in error) Ahaetulla oxyrhynca — GANESH & GUPTHA 2021 Ahaetulla oxyrhynca — MAJUMDER 2022 Ahaetulla oxyrhynca — DAVID et al. 2022 Ahaetulla oxyrhyncha — JIGAR et al. 2022 (in error) Ahaetulla oxyrhyncha — MAHETA et al. 2023 (in error) |
| Distribution | India (Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat) Type locality: ‘Indes Orientalis’ = “Vizagapatam” now Vishakhapatnam, State of Andhra Pradesh, India. russellianus: Type locality: “In Indiâ orientali” = Eastern India. passericki: Type locality: None given, implicitly “In Indiâ orientali”. rostratus: Type locality: None given |
| Reproduction | ovoviviparous (5-15 live offspring) |
| Types | Syntype: Plate XII in Russell 1796, vol. I Holotype. Specimen depicted as the “Botla Passeriki” on Plate XIII and described on p. 18 of Russell (1796); most probably specimen BMNH 1904.7. 27.25, see Bauer et al. (2015). [russellianus] Holotype. Specimen depicted as the “Botla Passeriki” on Plate XIII and described on p. 18 of Russell (1796) [passericki] Holotype. None specified [rostratus] Syntypes: “Botla Passeriki” on Plate XIII and described on p. 18 of Russell (1796); most probably specimen BMNH 1904.7.27.25, another specimen, and 3 syntypes of tephrogaster [zephrogaster] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: This is a species of Ahaetulla with a long rostral appendage (vs. with short rostral appendage in A. isabellina comb. nov., A. malabarica sp. nov., A. farnsworthi sp. nov., A. borealis sp. nov.; vs. no rostral appendage in A. dispar, A. travancorica sp. nov. and A. perroteti), lacking loreal scale (present in A. dispar), having usually green body colouration (vs. usually grey-brown in A. pulverulenta, A. sahyadrensis nom. nov., adult females often brown in A. anomala), possessing a white or yellow ventrolateral stripe (vs. absent in A. pulverulenta, A. sahyadrensis nom. nov.); lacking any crown markings (vs. a distinct rhomboid crown marking present on top of the head in A. sahyadrensis nom. nov. and A. anomala); with a rostral appendage composed of a grooved elongate scale (vs. rostral appendage composed of multiple small scales in A. pulverulenta, A. sahyadrensis nom. nov. and A. anomala) (Table 2, Mallik et al. 2020: 19). |
| Comment | Diet: lizards and other vertebrates (by implication). Synonymy: A. oxyrhyncha (including Dryinus russellianus and Dryophis passericki) was mostly considered a synonym of A. nasuta (fide SMITH 1943, BAUER 2015: 22) but was revalidated by Mallik et al. 2020. See also Ahaetulla nasuta. It seems that zephrogaster is most likely a lapsus calami for tephrogaster but Wall ‘s (1910a: 229) description of zephrogaster included five syntypes, in part distinct from those cited in the description of D. m. tephrogaster. Hence, David et al. 2022 consider Dryophis mycterizans var. zephrogaster to be distinct from Dryophis mycterizans tephrogaster and a synonym of oxyrhynca. Distribution: See map in Mallik et al. 2020: 14 (Fig. 4). Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018, by implication). |
| Etymology | From Latin, alluding to the pointed rostral scale; oxyus = sharp, rhynchus = of the nose / snout, literally meaning sharp-snouted. The original spelling, oxyrhyncus or its feminine oxyrhynca, should be conserved according to Art. 32.5. 1 of the Code (ICZN 1999). |
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