Plagiopholis yangi LIU, HOU & RAO, 2026
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Plagiopholis yangi?
Plagiopholis yangi
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Pseudoxenodontinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Yang's Mountain Snake |
| Synonym | Plagiopholis yangi LIU, HOU & RAO 2026 |
| Distribution | China (Malipo County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan), probably N Vietnam (Ha Giang Province) Type locality: Xiajinchang Township, Malipo County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (23°13'24"N, 104°48'11"E; 1,450 m a.s.l.). |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. KIZ2025059, adult male, collected on 6 May 2025 by Local villagers. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis & Comparisions. Plagiopholis yangi sp. nov. differs from all its congeners by a combination of the following characteristics (Table 4): anterior dorsal scales smooth, posterior dorsal scales feebly keeled; loreal present; supralabials six; temporals 2+2; ventral scales 116 in a single male; subcaudal scales 32 in a single male, some paired and some unpaired; nuchal blotch inverted “V” shaped; ventral surface yellowish white with many small dark spots. Plagiopholis yangi sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. acuta by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent), more subcaudals (32 vs 24–30), an inverted “V” shaped nuchal blotch (vs pentagonal or sub-annular shaped), and feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth); from P. blakewayi by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent, rarely present), six supralabials (vs five, rarely six), 2+2 temporals (vs 0+1 or 1+1), and an inverted “V” shaped nuchal blotch (vs arrow-shaped, irregular, or absent); from P. delacouri by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent), 2+2 temporals (vs 1+2), more subcaudals (32 vs 20–28), and some unpaired subcaudals (vs all subcaudals paired); from P. maculosa by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent), more ventrals (116 vs 104), more subcaudals (32 vs 24), some unpaired subcaudals (vs all subcaudals paired), feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth), and the absence of large brown blotches on ventral neck (vs present); from P. nuchalis by 2+2 temporals (vs 1+2), fewer ventrals (116 vs 122–142), more subcaudals (32 vs 23–30), and the absence of large black blotches on venter (vs present); from P. pluvialis by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent, rarely present), more ventrals in males (116 vs 102–110), and feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth); from P. styani by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent, rarely present), more subcaudals (32 vs 23–30), an inverted “V” shaped nuchal blotch (vs pentagonal, sub-annular or sagittate shaped), and feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth). (Liu et al. 2026) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about between half a page and a page) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | The specific epithet is in commemoration of the late renowned Chinese herpetological taxonomist Prof. Dr. Datong Yang. |
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