Elaphe taeniura (COPE, 1861)
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Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | Elaphe taeniura callicyanous SCHULZ 2010 Elaphe taeniura friesi (WERNER 1927) Elaphe taeniura grabowskyi (FISCHER 1885) Elaphe taeniura helfenbergeri SCHULZ 2010 Elaphe taeniura mocquardi SCHULZ 1996 Elaphe taeniura ridleyi (BUTLER 1899) Elaphe taeniura schmackeri (BOETTGER 1895) Elaphe taeniura taeniura (COPE 1861) Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis ANDERSON 1879 |
Common Names | E: Beauty Snake (friesei: Taiwan Beauty Snake; schmackeri: Sakishima Beauty Snake; callicyanous: Blue Beauty Ratsnake) G: Schönnatter, Streifen-Kletternatter Chinese: 黑眉锦蛇 |
Synonym | Elaphe taeniurus COPE 1861: 565 Coluber Nuthalli THEOBALD 1868 (S. MAHONY, pers. comm. 2010) Elaphis yunnanensis ANDERSON 1879: 813 Coluber taeniurus — BOULENGER 1890: 333 Elaphe taeniurus — STEJNEGER 1907: 319 Elaphe taeniura — SMITH 1943 Elaphe taeniura — SCHULZ 1996: 253 Elaphe taeniura — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 345 Orthriophis taeniurus — UTIGER et al. 2002 Elaphe taeniura — ZIEGLER 2002: 233 Elaphe taeniura — GRISMER et al. 2007 Orthriophis taeniurus taeniurus — SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 512 Elaphe taeniura — CHEN et al. 2017 (by implication) Elaphe taeniura callicyanous SCHULZ 2010 Elaphe taeniura ssp. — SCHULZ 1996: 264 Elaphe taeniura mocquardi x Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis — SCHULZ 1996 Elaphe taeniura — ZIEGLER 2002: 233 Orthriophis taeniurus callicyanous SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus callicyanous — LAITA 2013 Orthriophis taeniurus callicyanous — SCHULZ et al. 2015 Elaphe taeniura friesi (WERNER 1927) Coluber friesi STEINDACHNER cited in WERNER 1927: 245 (nomen nudum) Coluber taeniurus var. friesi WERNER 1927: 245 Elaphe taeniura friesi — TIEDEMANN & GRILLITSCH 1999: 154 Orthriophis taeniurus friesi — GUMPRECHT 2003 Orthriophis taeniurus friesi — SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus friesi — SCHULZ et al. 2015 Elaphe taeniura grabowskyi (FISCHER 1885) Elaphis grabowskyi FISCHER 1885 Elaphis taeniurus — BOULENGER 1887 (partim) Coluber taeniurus — BOULENGER 1890 Elaphe taeniura — BARBOUR 1912 (partim) Elaphe taeniura grabowskyi — SMITH 1930 Elaphe taeniura grabowskyi — TAYLOR 1965 Elaphe taenura [sic] grabowskii — MANTHEY & DENZER 1982 Elaphe taeniura grabowskyi — MANTHEY 1983 Elaphe taeniura grabowskyi — MALKMUS et al. 2002 Orthriophis taeniurus grabowskyi — SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus grabowskyi — ROBERTS & SCHULZ 2012 Elaphe taeniura grabowskyi — MALKMUS 2015 Orthriophis taeniurus grabowskyi — SCHULZ et al. 2015 Elaphe taeniura helfenbergeri SCHULZ 2010 Coluber taeniurus pallidus RENDAHL 1937 Elaphe taeniura — SMITH 1943: 150 Elaphe taeniura taeniura — TAYLOR 1965: 219 Elaphe taeniura taeniura — COX 1991: 178 Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis COX et al. 1998: 50 Elaphe taeniura ssp. — SCHULZ 1996: 264 Elaphe taeniura ridleyi — NUTPHAND 2001: 97 Orthriophis taeniurus — WOGAN et al. 2008: 90 Orthriophis taeniurus helfenbergeri SCHULZ 2010 (nom. nov.) Orthriophis taeniurus helfenbergeri — SCHULZ et al. 2015 Elaphe taeniura mocquardi SCHULZ 1996 Coluber vaillanti MOCQUARD 1905 [non Simotes vaillanti SAUVAGE 1877] Elaphe taeniura mocquardi SCHULZ 1996: 259 (nom. nov.) Elaphe taeniura mocquardi — SWITAK 2006: 64 Orthriophis taeniurus mocquardi — SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus mocquardi — SCHULZ et al. 2015 Elaphe taeniura ridleyi (BUTLER 1899) Elaphe taeniura ridleyi — COX et al. 1998: 50 Elaphe taeniura ridleyi — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 167 Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi — GROSSMANN & TILLACK 2004 Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi — GROSSMANN & TILLACK 2005 Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi — SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi — SACHA 2015 Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi — SCHULZ et al. 2015 Elaphe taeniura schmackeri (BOETTGER 1895) Coluber schmackeri BOETTGER 1895: 268 Coluber schmackeri — BOULENGER 1896: 627 Elaphe schmackeri — STEJNEGER 1907: 322 Elaphe taeniura schmackeri — GORIS & MAEDA 2004: 235 Orthriophis taeniurus schmackeri — SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus schmackeri — SCHULZ et al. 2015 Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis ANDERSON 1879 Coluber nuthalli THEOBALD 1868 (nomen oblitum) Compsosoma leopardum ANDERSON 1870: 45 (nomen nudum) Elaphis yunnanensis ANDERSON 1879 Coluber Vaillanti MOCQUARD 1905: 319 (?) Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis – SCHMIDT 1927: 533 Elaphe taeniura vaillanti (MOCQUARD) — MELL 1931 [1929] Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis — MELL 1931 [1929] Coluber taeniurus yunnanensis – RENDAHL 1937: 20 Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis — COX et al. 1998: 50 Orthriophis taeniurus yunnanensis — GUMPRECHT 2003 Orthriophis taeniurus yunnanensis — WHITAKER & CAPTAIN 2004 Orthriophis taeniurus yunnanensis — SCHULZ 2010 Orthriophis taeniurus yunnanensis — SCHULZ et al. 2015 |
Distribution | India (Darjeeling, Assam, Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh (Siddi (=Gandhigram) - Changlang district) [A. Captain, pers. comm.]), Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, Myanmar, W Malaysia, China (most of China, but not recorded from NE or W China), Taiwan, Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra [Schulz 1996]), Japan (Ryukyu archipelago) callicyanous: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand; Type locality: Ky Anh-Ke Go (near Chin Xai), Ha Tinh, Vietnam. grabowskyi: Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatra, Borneo); Malaysia (East Malaysia). Type locality: Batu Hapu Cave near Pengaron, Kalimantan, Selatan (SE Borneo), Indonesia. friesei: Taiwan; Type locality: Takow (= Takao), Formosa; mocquardi: People's Republic of China (including Hainan); Vietnam. Type locality: Cao-Bang (= Caopang), Tongking, N Vietnam. helfenbergeri (previously pallidus): Myanmar, Thailand; Type locality (pallidus): „Sukhli, Tenasserim, „2000 Fuss ü. M.“ [ca. 600 m elevation] (= Sukli, eastern Dawna mountains, village of Myawdi, Kayin [Karen] state, Myanmar) (16°40'60'' N, 98°22'0'' E) ridleyi: Malaysia (Malaya), Pulau Tioman; Singapore (?); S Thailand. Type locality: Batu Caves, near Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia. schmackeri: Japan (Ryukyu Islands); Type locality: Yaeyama (Miyakojima Island), Ryu-kyu Archipelago, Japan. taeniura: People's Republic of China. Type locality: China: Zhejiang, Ningbo (Cope, 1861); Ningpo and Siam (fide KHALIKOV, pers. comm.); Siam (ANSP 3837), China, Ningpo (ANSP 3840) [fide MALNATE 1971] yunnanensis: India; Laos; Myanmar; People's Republic of China; E Thailand; Vietnam. Type locality: “Momien” (= Tengyueh or Tengchong), West Yunnan, China. |
Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Syntypes: ANSP 3837, 3840 (Malnate 1971), ZSI 4181 Holotype: unknown (fide NGUYEN et al. 2009). Holotype: SMF 18411, adult male [schmackeri] Lectotype: BMNH 1946.6.2.1; paralectotype: ZSI 4181, designated by Schulz et al. 2015 [yunnanensis] Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.7.34, BMNH 1946.1.7.36 [grabowskyi] Holotype: NMW [friesi] Holotype: MNHN-RA 1904.0395, adult male, collected by L. Vaillant [mocquardi] Holotype: ZFMK 81450, collected by Thomas Ziegler, 29.07.1997 [callicyanous] Holotype: NRM = NHRM 23013, adult female, coll. Malaise, 27.10.1934. [helfenbergeri] Holotype: unknown fide Schulz 1996: 263 but "probably either in the Selangor Museum or in the collection of the University of Kuala Lumpur" [ridleyi] |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: for diagnoses of helfenbergeri and callicyanous see SCHULZ 2010 who also provides a key to the subspecies. |
Comment | Subspecies: We follow David & Vogel (1996) for the subspecific systematic of Elaphe taeniura, which is quite controversial, and the ranges of the subspecies. This author recognises the validity of eight subspecies, one of which has yet to be described. Zhao & Adler (1993) did not recognize the subspecies Elaphe taeniura friesei and Elaphe taeniura vaillanti, but considered them to be synonyms of Elaphe taeniura taeniura. STEJNEGER (1907) listed Elaphe schmackeri as such but speculated that this form might be a subspecies of taeniurus because scale counts are overlapping. BOULENGER (1887) was probably the first one who noted the similarity between Elaphis grabowskyi and Elaphe taeniura. See also synonymy. Synonymy: The subspecies previously known as Elaphe taeniura vaillanti (Mocquard, 1905) is renamed Elaphe taeniura mocquardi Schulz, 1996 (nomen novum pro Coluber vaillanti Mocquard, 1905 [non Simotes vaillanti Sauvage, 1877, a subjective synonym of Elaphe porphyracea nigrofasciata]). Note that mocquardi and yunnanensis appear to intergrade in Vietnam (ORLOV et al. 2000). Illustrations in Akeret (2003) and SCHULZ 2010. Behavior: diurnal. Distribution: for a map of callicyanous, helfenbergeri, mocquardi, yunnanensis see SCHULZ 2010: 17. Possibly in Bhutan (Lenz 2012). There seems to be only one report from Russia (S Primorskiy Territory; from 1862), hence most likely not in Russia (I. Doronin, pers. comm., 23 Aug 2017). Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). |
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