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Liopholidophis varius (FISCHER, 1884)

IUCN Red List - Liopholidophis varius - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPseudoxyrhophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymLeptophis varius FISCHER 1884: 36
Tropidonotus sexlineatus — BOULENGER 1893 (not of GÜNTHER)
Liopholidophis pinguis PARKER 1925
Philodryas pallidus WERNER 1926
Liopholidophis pinguis — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 338
Liopholidophis pinguis — CADLE 1996: 413
Liopholidophis varius — CADLE 1998
Liopholidophis varius — WALLACH et al. 2014: 396 
DistributionMadagascar

Type locality: “Madagascar” (lectotype locality)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: ZMH R04319, (formerly 5 syntypes all other destroyed.) (designated by CADLE 1998) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (pinguis). A species of Liopholidophis having 17-17-15 dorsal scale rows, but lacking sexual dimorphism in tail length as extreme as in other members of the sexlineatus group.The number of midbody scale rows distinguishes pinguis (17) from members of the stumpffi group (19). The short tail (<35% total length) and corresponding low numbers of subcaudals (<110) in males distinguish pinguis from males of other members of the sexlineatus group (tail >35% total length and >120 subcaudals in males). Liopholidophis pinguis is most easily confused with L. sexlineatus (see "Key to Species"), and characters reliably separating females of the two species are subtle. The relative distinctness of the lateral stripes seems to be the most reliable feature (see "Key to Species" and species account for sexlineatus). Other species of the sexlineatus group have higher numbers of subcaudals (Table 1) andareeitherstripedwithdistinctivenape spots (rhadinaea) or have distinctively patterned venters (dolicocercus and grandidieri) (see species accounts). (Cadle 1996: 413).


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CommentSynonymy: Boulenger (1893) relegated varius to the synonymy of sexlineatus, which Cadle 1994 “followed blindly”.

Similar species: L. pinguis, L. sexlineatus. 
References
  • Cadle, J. E. 1996. Snakes of the genus Liopholidophis (Colubridae) from Eastern Madagascar: New species, revisionary notes, and an estimate of phylogeny. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 154 (5): 369-464. - get paper here
  • Cadle,J.E. 1998. The identity of Leptophis varius FISCHER 1884 and placement of Liopholidophis pinguis PARKER 1925 in its synonymy. Journal of Herpetology 32 (3): 434-437 - get paper here
  • Fischer, J. G. 1884. Über einige afrikanische Reptilien, Amphibien und Fische des Naturhistorischen Museums. II. Über einige Reptilien von Nossi-Bé und Madagaskar. Jahrbuch des Naturhistorisches Museums Hamburg 1883: 33-38 - get paper here
  • Glaw ,F. & Vences, M. 1994. A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Vences & Glaw Verlag, Köln (ISBN 3-929449-01-3)
  • Glaw, F.; Nagy, Z.T.; Franzen, M. & Vences, M. 2007. Molecular phylogeny and systematics of the pseudoxyrhophiine snake genus Liopholidophis (Reptilia, Colubridae): evolution of its exceptional sexual dimorphism and descriptions of new taxa. Zoologica Scripta 36: 291–300 - get paper here
  • Günther,A. 1882. Ninth contribution to the knowledge of the fauna of Madagascar. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5) 9: 262-266 - get paper here
  • Parker,H.W. 1925. New and rare reptiles and batrachians from Madagascar. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (9) 16: 390-394 - get paper here
  • Thomas, R. A., M. DI BERNARDO & H. GRILLITSCH 2001. Philodryas pallidus WERNER, 1926: a synonym of the Colubrid snake Liopholidophis varius (FISCHER, 1884) from Madagascar. Journal of Herpetology 35 (1): 120-122 - 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.
 
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