Pareas yunnanensis (VOGT, 1922)
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Pareas yunnanensis
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| Higher Taxa | Pareidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Yunnan Slug Snake Chinese: 云南钝头蛇” (Yún Nán Dùn Tóu Shé) E: Twin Slug snake [geminatus] Chinese: 伯仲钝头蛇 (Bó Zhòng Dùn Tóu Shé) [geminatus] |
| Synonym | Amblycephalus yunnanensis VOGT 1922: 142 Amblycephalus monticola chinensis — MELL 1931 [1929] Pareas yunnanensis — RAO & YANG 1992 Pareas chinensis — ZHAO & ADLER 1993: 249 (part) Pareas hamptoni — VOGEL 2010 Pareas hamptoni — TEYNIÉ & DAVID 2010 [partim] Pareas hamptoni — VOGEL 2010: 219 Pareas yunnanensis — GUO et al. 2020 Pareas yunnanensis — WANG et al. 2020 Pareas geminatus DING et al. 2020 Pareas xuelinensis LIU & RAO 2021: 128 Pareas geminatus — LIU & RAO 2021 Pareas (Eberhardtia) xuelinensis — POYARKOV et al. 2022 Pareas (Eberhardtia) geminatus — POYARKOV et al. 2022 Pareas yunnanensis — WANG et al. 2022 Pareas (Eberhardtia) yunnanensis — LIU et al. 2023 Pareas yunnanensis — STUART et al. 2025 |
| Distribution | China (Yunnan), N Thailand, N Laos, probably NE Myanmar, NW Vietnam (fide Stuart et al. 2025) Type locality: Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province. xuelinensis (invalid): China (Yunnan); Type locality: Xuelin Township, Lancang County, Pu’er City, Yunnan Province, China, 23°2'38"N, 99°32'35"E; 1840 m elevation geminatus (invalid): China (Yunnan), Thailand (Chiang Mai), N Laos; Type locality: Jiangcheng County (21.207556° N, 94.020056°E; alt. 2,280 m elevation), Yunnan Province, China. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Syntypes: ZMB 27660, 65431, adult females; other specimens: KIZ Holotype. KIZ XL1, adult male, collected on 13 July 2019 by Shuo Liu. Paratypes. KIZ XL2, adult male and KIZ XL3, adult female, the same collection data as the holotype. [xuelinensis] Holotype. CIB118021, Adult male, collected by Ding Li on 21 May 2006. Paratypes (n=5). Adult females, CIB118022 and CIB118023, collected from Jiangcheng County (22.603453 N, 101.882167 E; alt. 1,272 m a.s.l.), Yunnan Province, China; adult male, MNHN 0171S, collected from Houaphanh Province, Laos (no exact locality data); subadult male, ZMMU R-16695, collected from Long Tien, Xaisomboun Province, Laos; adult female, QSMI 1013, collected from Tak Province (approx. 16.425833 N, 99.000000 E; alt. 1,160 m a.s.l.), Thailand. Other specimens: AUP 00176, ZMMU R-16477, ZMMU R-16478 (from Doi Inthanon NP, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand), KIZ [geminatus] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: “This species differs from Pareas geminatus by having fewer subcaudals, relatively more rows of keeled mid-dorsal scales, relatively fewer ventral scales, solid black dorsal surface of head, and no distinct large black spots or stripe on each side of head; it differs from P. xuelinensis Liu & Rao, 2021 by infralabials not fused with chin-shields, vertebral scales enlarged, having fewer ventral scales, fewer subcaudals, relatively more rows of keeled mid-dorsal scales, and solid black dorsal surface of head. SVL 387–482 mm in adults, TL 94–110 mm in adults, TL/SVL 0.22–0.25; preoculars mostly single, rarely two; postoculars and suboculars mostly fused, rarely separated; loreal bordering orbit in most individuals; prefrontal bordering orbit; supralabials 6–8, infralabials 6–8; infralabials not fused with chin-shields; dorsal scales in 15 rows throughout the body; vertebral scales enlarged; 5–7 rows of mid-dorsal scales keeled on the middle part of the body; precloacal plate undivided; ventral scales 169–175; subcaudals 59–65, all paired. Dorsal surface of head black; no or 1–2 indistinct large black spots on each side of head, no stripe on each side of head; two wide black stripes pass from parietals to the vertical black bars on neck; dark nuchal band absent; vertical black bars distinct on trunk and indistinct on tail; iris brownish-yellow or brownish-orange.” (Liu et al. 2023) Additional details (12130 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonymy: previously considered as a synonym of P. komaii. Stuart et al. (2025) synonymized xuelinensis and geminatus with yunnanensis. NCBI taxonID: 2806508 [xuelinensis] RDB speciesID: 23553 [xuelinensis] Etymology (xuelinensis): The specific epithet xuelinensis refers to Xuelin Township, the type locality of the new species. Etymology (geminatus): The specific epithet “geminatus” is a Latin adjective in nominative singular (masculine gender) derived from the Latin “geminus”, for “twin”, “double”, and is given in reference to the similarity in morphology of the new species to its sister taxon, P. hamptoni, with which it was confused for a long time. NCBI taxonID: 2800376 [geminatus] RDB speciesID: 23374 [geminatus] |
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