Oreocryptophis porphyraceus (CANTOR, 1839)
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Oreocryptophis porphyraceus
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Oreocryptophis porphyraceus porphyraceus (CANTOR 1839) Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi (SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998) Oreocryptophis porphyraceus laticinctus (SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998) Oreocryptophis porphyraceus kawakamii (OSHIMA 1910) Oreocryptophis porphyraceus pulchra (SCHMIDT 1925) Oreocryptophis porphyraceus vaillanti (SAUVAGE 1877) |
| Common Names | E: Black-banded Trinket Snake, Red Bamboo Snake G: Rote (Breitband-) Bambusnatter Chinese: 紫灰锦蛇 |
| Synonym | Coluber porphyraceus CANTOR 1839 Coronella callicephalus GRAY 1853: 390 (fide BOULENGER 1894) Coluber porphyraceus — ANDERSON 1871: 172 Elaphe porphyracea — VAN DENBURGH 1909 Ablabes porphyraceus — BOULENGER 1890 Coluber porphyraceus — BOULENGER 1894: 34 Coluber porphyraceus — WALL 1908: 326 Elaphe porphyracea longilineata — BOURRET 1935: 6 Coluber porphyraceus — RENDAHL 1937 Elaphe porphyracea — TAYLOR 1965: 724 Elaphe porphyracea — SCHULZ 1996: 196 Elaphe porphyracea — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 343 Oreophis porphyraceus — UTIGER et al. 2002 Oreophis porphyraceus — DAVID et al. 2004 Oreocryptophis prophyraceus — UTIGER et al. 2005 (nom. nov.) Elaphe porphyracea — ZHAO 2006 Oreocryptophis prophyraceus — ZIEGLER et al. 2007 Oreophis porphyraceus — MATTISON 2007: 247 Oreophis porphyraceus — GRISMER et al. 2008 Elaphe porphyracae — LALTANPUIA et al. 2008 (in error) Orthriophis porphyraceus — KÄSTLE et al. 2013: 515 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 511 Oreocryptophis porphyracea — PYRON & BURBRINK 2013 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus — WANG et al. 2022 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus porphyraceus (CANTOR 1839) Psammophis nigrofasciatus CANTOR 1839 (fide BOULENGER 1894) Psammophis nigrofasciatus CANTOR 1839 (fide SCHULZ et al. 2010) Simotes Vaillanti SAUVAGE 1876 Elaphe porphyracea pulchra SCHMIDT 1925 Elaphe porphyracea sikiangensis MELL 1931 Elaphe porphyracea nigrofasciata — POPE 1935 Elaphe porphyracea porphyracea — TAYLOR 1965: 724 Elaphe porphyracea porphyracea — COX et al. 1998: 52 Elaphe porphyracea nigrofasciata — COX et al. 1998: 52 Oreophis porphyraceus porphyraceus — GUMPRECHT 2003 Oreophis porphyraceus nigrofasciatus — KNIETSCH 2005 Oreophis porphyraceus porphyraceus — SCHULZ 2010 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus porphyraceus — LOVE 2010 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi (SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998) Elaphe porphyracea coxi SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998 Elaphe porphyracea coxi — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 164 Oreophis porphyraceus coxi — KNIETSCH 2005 Oreocryptophis prophyraceus — LAITA 2013 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi — HORNIG 2015 Oreorphis porphyraceus coxi — COTA et al. 2022: 45 (in error) Oreocryptophis porphyraceus kawakamii (OSHIMA 1910) Liopeltis kawakamii OSHIMA 1910: 193 Oreophis porphyraceus kawakamii — KNIETSCH 2005 Oreocryptophis porphyracea kawakamii — MAO et al. 2009 [HR 40: 37] Oreocryptophis porphyraceus laticinctus (SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998) Elaphe porphyracea laticincta SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998 Elaphe porphyracea laticincta — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 165 Oreophis porphyraceus laticincta — GROSSMANN & TILLACK 2004 Oreophis porphyraceus laticinctus — BULIAN et al. 2005 Oreocryptophis porphyracea laticinctus — SCHULZ et al. 2010 Oreophis porphyraceus laticinctus — WERNING 2013 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus pulchra (SCHMIDT, 1925) Elaphe porphyracea pulchra SCHMIDT 1925: 3 Elaphe porphyracea pulchra — MELL 1931 [1929] Elaphe porphyracea pulchra — SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998 Oreophis porphyraceus pulchra — KNIETSCH 2005 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus vaillanti (SAUVAGE 1877) Simotes vaillanti SAUVAGE 1877 Elaphe porphyracea hainana MELL 1931 Holarchus vaillanti — MELL 1931: 211 [1929] ? Elaphe porphyracea vaillanti — SCHULZ 2000 Elaphe porphyracea vaillanti — ORLOV et al. 2003 Oreophis porphyraceus hainana — KNIETSCH 2005 Elaphe porphyracea vaillanti — SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998 Oreophis porphyraceus vaillanti — GUMPRECHT 2003 Oreocryptophis porphyraceus vaillanti — ORLOV et al. 2010 |
| Distribution | India (Darjeling, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh [A. Captain, pers. comm.], Mizoram, Nagaland), Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia ?, N Vietnam (Yen Bai etc.), Tibet, Nepal, S China (Sichuan, Yunnan, Hong Kong, Hainan, northward to Henan and Gansu; south to Wei He river), Taiwan, West Malaysia (Pahang, Pulau Tioman), Indonesia (Sumatra) coxi: NE Thailand; Type locality: Phuluang, Provinz Loei, NE Thailand, 850 m elevation. porphyracea: India; Myanmar; Nepal; People's Republic of China. Type locality: India: Assam, Mishmi [Mishmee] Hills (Cantor, 1839) kawakamii: Taiwan. Type locality: Taiwan. laticincta: Malaysia (Cameron highlands, Pahang, West Malaysia). Type locality: Cameron highlands, ca. 1700 m elevation, near Brinchang, Pahang, Malaysia. hainana: People's Republic of China (Hainan). [currently considered as a synonym of O. p. vaillanti]. nigrofasciata: Hong Kong; Laos; People's Republic of China; Vietnam. Type locality: see comment pulchra: People's Republic of China (Yunnan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Guizhou); Type locality: Yunnanfu (= Kunming, Yunnan, China). vaillanti: China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Hunan, jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hainan, Honkong), Vietnam (Chapa, Tamdao, Mason); Type locality: China; |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: unknown (fide NGUYEN et al. 2009). Holotype: BMNH [nigrofasciata] Lectotype: MNHN-RA 5058 [vaillanti] Holotype: AMNH 17705, paratype: FMNH [pulchra] Holotype: MHNG 25 89.86, leg. T. CHAN-ARD 1993, MH NG 2589.90; paratypes: MHNG 2589.91, leg. T. CHAN-ARD 1994-1995; CTNRC 03771, leg. T. CHAN-ARD 1990 [coxi] Holotype: MHNG 2589.88, Paratypes: MHNG 25 89.89, leg. W. GROSSMANN und C. SCHÄFER, Feb 1997; ZFMK 16660, leg. G. NIKOLAUS; CAS-SU 13232, leg. A. W. HERRE, 28. October 1940 [laticincta] Holotype: unlocated, was BSRT 60 (Bureau of Scientific Researches Taipeh; collection no longer extant, type may now be in MST or NTM of Taiwan or NSMT = National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo) [kawakamii] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Somewhat exceeding a meter in length (1100 mm.); scales smooth in 19 rows; loreal present; above reddish to magenta with a series of about 14 to 16 darker bands on body; two lines from first band extended forward along sides of head to eye; a median stripe on head; two dorsolateral black lines on posterior third of body and tail, a total of four darker bands indicated on tail. (Taylor 1965: 724) Additional details (2556 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Subspecies: The infraspecific systematics of this species is controversial. Zhao & Adler (1993: 238) considered Elaphe porphyracea kawakamii (Oshima, 1911) and Elaphe porphyracea pulchra Schmidt, 1925 synonyms of E. porphyracea nigrofasciata and E. porphyracea porphyracea respectively. According to this scheme, three subspecies are regarded as valid (E. p. porphyracea, p. hainana and p. nigrofasciata) and only the nominate form occurs on Sumatra. Schulz (1996) recognized not less than seven subspecies (see below), two of which are still unnamed, and refered the populations from Sumatra to one of these undescribed taxon that is being studied (Schulz & Helfenberger, in prep.). We follow Schulz (1996), but as this subspecies has yet to be named and defined, we provisionally refrain from mentioning any subspecific name for the Sumatran populations. Reported from but not listed for the Andaman Islands by DAS 1999. Variation: Oreocryptophis porphyracea is highly variable with red and yellow/black forms that may or may not have longitudinal stripes (see SCHULZ et al. 2010 for photos). Type species: Coluber porphyraceus CANTOR 1839 is the type species of the genus Oreocryptophis UTIGER et al. 2005. It is also the type species of the genus Oreophis UTIGER et al. 2002. However, the generic name “Oreophis” is preoccupied by Oreophis boulengeri DUGÈS 1897, a synonym of Lampropeltis mexicana. laticinctus: Size: females 90-100 cm, males 75-80 cm. Adults are red with thin black bands while juveniles have broad red (or brownish) and yellow bands which are separated by thin black bands. pulchra is a synonym of Oreocryptophis porphyracea porphyracea according to MARX 1958. vaillanti: juvenile males are cross-banded while adult males have longitudinal stripes (see photos in SCHULZ & HELFENBERGER 1998). Behavior: diurnal. Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). Distribution: not in Singapore or not established there. The type locality of Psammophis was given erroneously as “Singapore”. See Figueroa et al. 2023: 269 for further discussion. |
| Etymology | Named after Greek porphyreos = crimson, dark red. The genus name alludes to the secretive way of live of Oreocryptophis porphyraceus in mountainous areas, and stems from the Greek words “oros”, meaning mountain, “kryptos”, meaning hidden or secret, and “ophis”, i.e., snake; the gender is masculine. This genus includes at least one species different from O. porphyraceus as averred by Utiger et al. (2002) and evidenced by unpublished mtDNA data. |
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