Hebius gilhodesi (WALL, 1925)
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Hebius gilhodesi
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Natricinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Kachin hills keelback |
| Synonym | Natrix gilhodesi WALL 1925: 805 Natrix gihodesi WALL 1925: 808 (in error) Natrix khasiensis — WALL 1926: 559 Hebius gilhodesi — BOHRA et al. 2025: 484 |
| Distribution | Myanmar Type locality: Huton, Bhamo district (30 miles north-east of Bhamo; circa 4,500 feet; Lat. Circa 97° .33; Long. Circa 24° .24)”, now near Hutung (24.758590°N, 97.411820°E), Bhamo district, Kachin State, Myanmar. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.13.62 (formerly BM 1925.4.2.8), an adult male. (Fig. 11 in Bohra et al. 2025) Paratypes (Fig. 12)—BMNH 1946.1.13.63 (formerly BM 1925.4.2.9) (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4.2.10 (an adult female), BMNH 1925.4.2.11 (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4.2.12 (an adult female), BMNH 1925.4.2.13 (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4.2.14 (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4.2.15 (an adult female) and BMNH 1925.4.2.15A (an adult female), all bearing the same collection details as holotype. Referred materials: BMNH 1974.884 (an adult female) collected by Frank Wall from nearby Alangdunhku, Putao district, Kachin State, Myanmar (27.25°N, 97.75°E); CAS 221504, CAS 221525, CAS 221543, all adult females collected by the Late J.B. Slowinski, D.O. Rao, G.O.U. Wogan, Late H. Win, A.K. Shein, K.S. Lwin & H. Tun on 9th September 2001 from Naung Mon Township (27o26’N, 97°55’E; 27o27’N, 97°55’E & 27o27’N, 97°55’E), Putao district, Kachin State, Myanmar; CAS 224654, CAS 224694, all adult females collected from Nangmung town, Nangmung Township, Putao district, Kachin State, Myanmar (27°30’N, 97°48’E; 27°30’N, 97°49’E) by the Late H. Win, Y.N.T Na, H. Ram & S. Di on 13th April, 2002. Purkayastha et al. 2019 gave the holotype of gilhodesi as BMNH 1946.1.12.81, male. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis and description: A medium sized natricid snake growing upto a maximum SVL of 435 mm and is diagnosed from all other congeners based on the combination of following characters: (1) cylindrical body with 19 (OSR):19 (MSR):17 (PSR) dorsal scale rows, all of which are strongly keeled except for the outermost row close to ventral edges that are either smooth or very feebly keeled. Posterior region of the body close to the base of the tail are always strongly keeled; (2) ventrals 143–153; (3) subcaudals 87–111, all paired or divided; (4) anal plate divided or paired; (5) tail relatively long with a Tal/TL ratio of 0.296–0.346 (6) 9 supralabials or upper labials out of which 4th to 6th are touching the orbit and the last three supralabials are comparatively much larger; (7) 10–11 infralabials or lower labials out of which the first five are touching the first pair of anterior chin shields; (8) nasal scale distinct and divided, nostril lies laterally in the center of the nasal scale; (9) internasals divided or paired; (10) a single loreal scale on either side of the head dorso-laterally; (11) 21–23 maxillary teeth on both sides which gets slightly enlarged posteriorly including the last two to three posterior teeth without diastema that are moderately enlarged as compared to the anterior ones; (12) dorsal body coloration in life mostly with a reddish tinge, somewhat rusty brown in life; dorso-lateral stripe on the dorsum is absent and is instead replaced by a series of indistinct, very obscure, tiny faded or ochre spots which properly continues till the midbody (13) upper lips or supralabials are usually off white in coloration intermixed with distinct black markings that are usually present in and around the marginal edges of each supralabial scale, the black markings become comparatively somewhat larger in the last three supralabials; (14) nape with an indistinct, discontinuous off whitish or creamish streak which breaks into whitish spots and each whitish spot are separated from each other by an interval of at least 2–5 dorsal scales usually (except for a single specimen where the spots are separated from each other by an interval of only one scale); (15) upper portion of the head in life mainly has three shades of coloration ranging from reddish to rusty brown to sap greenish intermixed with irregular creamy yellowish spots; (16) ventral region is off white in coloration along with the presence of distinct black spots on the ventral edges of each ventral, anal and each subcaudal scale throughout, thereby forming a thin, distinct and dark ventro-lateral line like appearance. Additional details (11509 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonymy: Wall 1926 himself synonymized his described species gilhodesi with khasiensis, which was confirmed by SMITH 1943. Bohra et al. 2025 revalidated gilhodesi. Similar species: H. khasiensis. Based on the genetic and morphological differences between khasiensis and gilhodesi, the latter may qualify more adequately as a subspecies of khasiensis (the genetic differences within H. boulengeri are larger than between gilhodesi and khasiensis). Distribution: See map in Bohra et al. 2025: 467 (Fig. 1). |
| Etymology | Named after Reverend Father Gilhodes, the collector of the type. |
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