Protobothrops kelomohy SUMONTHA, VASARUCHAPONG, CHOMNGAM, SUNTRARACHUN, PAWANGKHANANT, SOMPAN, SMITS, KUNYA & CHANHOME, 2020
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Protobothrops kelomohy?
Protobothrops kelomohy
Find more photos by Google images search: 
| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Omkoi Lance-headed Pit Viper Thai: Ngoo Kelo Omkoi Karen: Yum Kelo Mo Hy |
| Synonym | Protobothrops kelomohy SUMONTHA, VASARUCHAPONG, CHOMNGAM, SUNTRARACHUN, PAWANGKHANANT, SOMPAN, SMITS, KUNYA CHANHOME 2020 |
| Distribution | N Thailand (Chiang Mai) Type locality: Sop Khong Subdistrict, Omkoi District, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand (600 m elevation) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. QSMI 1557, adult male (Figs. 2, 3 in Sumontha et al. 2020), collected by Weerasak Sompan on 28 September 2017. Paratype. QSMI 1558, adult female from the same locality and collector as holotype, collected on 1 October 2017. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. Protobothrops kelomohy sp. nov. differs from other species of the genus by the combination of the following characters: 1) relative larger body size (TL up to 1310 mm); 2) dorsal scale rows 23– 23–17, all keeled; 3) ventral scales 231-234; 4) high number of subcaudals (80-84 pairs); 5) 8-9 supralabials; 6) 12-13 infralabials; 7) typical lance-head pattern on upper head surface; 8) three bold vertical facial stripes, (first from internasal, second from facial pit, third from eye) and a bold postocular stripe extending obliquely downwards on temporal region then curved down immediately at the end of the last supralabial; 9) dorsal body and tail reddish-brown, each scale with black edges; transverse blotches, somewhat fused together as a zigzag median line on dorsum and a row of large ventrolateral blotches on each side, each darker marking edged with a narrow yellow line. Comparisons. A comparison of Protobothrops kelomohy sp. nov. with the other species of genus Protobothrops is shown in Table 5. The absence of a hornlike supraocular in Protobothrops kelomohy sp. nov. easily distinguishes it from P. cornutus and P. sieversorum; by its high number of ventrals, greater than 200, Protobothrops kelomohy sp. nov. (231-234) differs from P . dabieshanensis (187), P . elegans (179-196), P. jerdonii jerdonii (160-173), P. jerdonii bourreti (189-192), P. jerdonii xanthomelas (176-188), P. mangshanensis (187-198), P . maolanensis (186-193), P . trungkhanhensis (188-194) and P . xiangchengensis (175-194); by its lesser number of mid-body scale rows, Protobothrops kelomohy sp. nov. (23) differs from P . flavoviridis (33-39), P. himalayanus (25), P . kaulbacki (25) and P . tokarensis (31-33). Protobothrops kelomohy sp. nov. differs from P. mucrosquamatus by the number of mid-body dorsal scale rows, 23, all keeled distinctly vs 25 – 27 (rarely 23) and keeled, except the 1st row smooth in P. mucrosquamatus, one loreal (vs two) and the presence of vertical stripes from eyes (vs absent). Furthermore, Protobothrops kelomohy sp. nov. is slightly longer, has higher numbers of ventrals, supralabials and infralabials than P. mucrosquamatus (TL max 1,310 mm vs 1,280 mm, V 231 – 234 vs194–233,SL8–9vs7–8,IL12–13 vs 11 – 12) (Table 5 in Sumontha et al. 2020). |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | The specific epithet "kelomohy" is taken from the romanized nouns “kə̀lɔ” meaning “fire or thunder” and “môhɨ” meaning “mothers that lay eggs and stays and look after them during incubation time until hatching”. The first noun is drawn from the vernacular name of the new species in the Northern Pwo Karen language, a language of Karen subfamily, Sino-Tibetan family, and probably refers to the snake bite’s inducing an immediate sharp, burning pain. The second noun refers to the maternal reproductive behavior of the genus Protobothrops, assumed to be the same for the new species. |
| References |
|
| External links |