Rhynchocalamus hejazicus LICATA, POLA, ŠMÍD, IBRAHIM, LIZ, SANTOS, PATKÓ, ABDULKAREEM, GONÇALVES, ALSHAMMARI, BUSAIS, EGAN, RAMALHO, SMITHSON & BRITO, 2024
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Rhynchocalamus hejazicus
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Hejaz black–collared snake Arabic: أبو حناء [Abu Henna] |
| Synonym | Rhynchocalamus hejazicus LICATA, POLA, ŠMÍD, IBRAHIM, LIZ, SANTOS, PATKÓ, ABDULKAREEM, GONÇALVES, ALSHAMMARI, BUSAIS, EGAN, RAMALHO, SMITHSON & BRITO 2024: 696 |
| Distribution | Saudi Arabia (Medina) Type locality: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Medina Province, Shaaran Nature Reserve (26.85895°N, 38.30387°E), 1035 m elevtion. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. RCU-URN-93850, Adult male (sample code FLI447; Fig. 3; Table 1). Collected by Fulvio Licata on May 24, 2023. Paratypes. RCU-URN-94064 (sample code FLI330; Fig. 3; Table 1), melanistic adult female collected by Fulvio Licata and Leili Khalatbari on May 11, 2023, KSA, Medina Province, Harrat Khaybar (25.60676°N, 39.96734°E), elevation 1616 m asl, MorphoBank accessions: M902243–M902247; RCU-URN-94065 (sample code JCB222), juvenile male collected by José Carlos Brito on November 2, 2023, KSA, Medina Province, Jabal Al Ward (26.36263°N, 37.38780°E), elevation 1277 m asl, MorphoBank accessions: M902256–M902261; NMP 76815 (sample code LP760; Fig. 4; Table 1), juvenile male collected by Damien M. Egan and Lukáš Pola on April 22, 2022, KSA, Tabuk / Medina Provinces, Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve, 26 km east of Al Qurr village (26.6028142°N, 37.1225145°E), elevation 781 m asl, MorphoBank accessions: M902293–M902338; NMP 76816 (sample code JIR551), adult, sex undetermined, collected by Ahmed Mohajja AlShammari and Mubarak Al–Aslami in July 2021, KSA, Hail Province, Jabal Salma, south of An Niayy village (27.165278°N, 42.294444°E), elevation 1052 m asl, MorphoBank accessions: M902290–M902292; MNHN–RA–2023.0013 (sample code JIR544; Fig. 4; Table 1) adult female collected by Adel A. Ibrahim and Ahmed Mohajja AlShammari on May 11, 2017, KSA, Hail Province, Jabal Salma, Wadi Al–Azraq, east of Zekheen village (26.948889°N, 41.973889°E), elevation 1099 m asl, MorphoBank accessions: M902262–M902289. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: The new species of Rhynchocalamus from the Hejaz Mountain range in western Saudi Arabia is characterised by the following morphological characters: (1) SVL 209.2–339.5 mm in adults; (2) tail length 38.3–64.2 mm in adults; (3) loreal scale present; (4) large 3rd and 4th upper labial scales in contact with the eye; (5) one preocular scale; (6) 1–2 postocular scales; (7) one temporal scale; (8) 0–2 post–temporal scales; (9) six upper labial scales; (10) eight lower labial scales; (11) usually four lower labial scales in contact with the anterior inframaxillars; (12) usually one gular scale in contact with anterior inframaxillars, situated between the posterior inframaxillars; (13) 15 smooth dorsal scales at mid-body; (14) 11–12 dorsal and temporal scales surrounding the margin of parietals; (15) 227–250 ventrals; (16) anal and subcaudal scales divided; (17) 67–70 subcaudal scales; (18) dorsal colouration in life deep reddish with a distinctive black collar extending behind the parietal scales and abruptly stopping or tapering backward in the middle, and a pale reddish band passing behind the eyes, through the middle of the supraoculars and the frontal scale, encompassing the temporal and parietal scales. (Licata et al. 2024) |
| Comment | MorphoBank accessions: M902248–M902255 |
| Etymology | Named after the type locality in the Hejaz Mountains. |
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