Oligodon mouhoti (BOULENGER, 1914)
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Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Cambodian Kukri Snake, Mouhot’s Kukri Snake G: Mouhots Kukrinatter |
Synonym | Simotes taeniatus var. mouhoti BOULENGER 1914: 70 Holarchus taeniatus mouhoti — COCHRAN 1930 Oligodon mouhoti — COX et al. 1998: 60 Oligodon mouhoti — NGUYEN et al. 2009 Oligodon mouhoti — WALLACH et al. 2014: 500 |
Distribution | Cambodia, Thailand (Uthai Thani etc.), S Vietnam Type locality: Cambodia. Type locality not given in the original description; implicitly Cambodia because the description was based on the specimen depicted by Günther (1864: Pl. 20: Fig. A) that DAVID et al. 92008) have identified. |
Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Holotype: BMNH RR 1946.1.3.32 (adult male), from Cambodia. Collected by Henri Mouhot. |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: –A species of the genus Oligodon, characterized by: (1) an average size for the group, up to about 340 mm in total length; (2) deeply forked hemipenes, not spinose but bearing two large papillae; (3) 17 dorsal scale rows at midbody, 15 before vent; (4) 14–16 maxillary teeth, the last two strongly enlarged; (5) full complement of head scales, rarely including a presubocular; (6) 8 (rarely 7) supralabials; (7) anal plate single; (8) the presence of two dark longitudinal paravertebral stripes edging a pale (yellow in life) vertebral stripe, and two narrower dorsolateral stripes; (9) two large rounded, dark brown or black blotches on the upper surface of the tail, one at its base, the other one near the tip; (10) five major markings on upper head surface: one anterior across the snout, one small longitudinal, frontal marking, two central, oblique streaks directed posteriorly downwards, and one broad, arrow-shaped nuchal blotch; and (11) base of oblique central streaks reaching the ventral scales in all examined specimens. Oligodon mouhoti differs from all other species of the group by the combination of (1) 17 scale rows at midbody, (2) the presence of a pattern similar to that of Oligodon taeniatus, namely two dark, conspicuous paravertebral and two dorsolateral stripes, and (3) two dorsal blotches on the upper surface of the tail, which are present in all examined specimens. Campden-Main (1969) discussed the differences between O. taeniatus and O. mouhoti. This author rightly referred specimens with 19 DSR to O. taeniatus and those with 17 rows plus a pair of blotches on the upper tail surface to O. mouhoti. Campden-Main also noticed differences in the length of the oblique streaks behind the corner of the mouth. According to Campden-Main (1969), the lower end of each streak reaches ventral scales in O. mouhoti, whereas it stops short of ventrals in O. taeniatus. Our data do not agree fully with this statement. The streaks do reach a ventral scale in 55 out of 105 specimens (52.4% in O. taeniatus). In O. mouhoti, the streaks reach a ventral scale in all examined specimens. This character should not be considered to be fully diagnostic to separate these two species [DAVID et al. 2008]. |
Comment | Has been synonymized with Oligodon taeniatus by SMITH 1935: 208. |
Etymology | Named after Alexandre Henri Mouhot (1826-1861), a French traveler who is best known for having rediscovered Ankhor Wat in Cambodia (ca. 1859). |
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