Plagiopholis blakewayi BOULENGER, 1893
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Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Pseudoxenodontinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Blakeway’s Mountain Snake G: Blakeways Bergschlange Chinese: 颈斑蛇 |
Synonym | Plagiopholis blakewayi BOULENGER 1893: 301 Plagiopholis blakewayi — WALL 1923: 467 Plagiopholis blakewayi — SMITH 1943: 325 Oligodon kunmingensis KOU & WU 1993 Plagiopholis unipostocularis ZHAO, JIANG, HUANG 1978 Plagiopholis unipostocularis — GUO et al. 1999 Plagiopholis blakewayi — TILLACK et al. 2006 Plagiopholis unipostocularis — ZHAO 2006 Plagiopholis unipostocularis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 563 Oligodon kunmingensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 489 Plagiopholis blakewayi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 562 |
Distribution | Myanmar (= Burma: Kachin, Shan), NW Thailand (Chiang Mai), SW China (Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan), elevations above 1300 m kunmingensis: China (Yunnan); Type locality: Western Hill of Kunming City (25° 0’ N, 102° 7’ E), Yunnan. unipostocularis: China (Yunnan); Type locality: Yunnan Prov. |
Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.12.35 (was 91.11.26.30), Male. Holotype: CIB 505121, female [unipostocularis] |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: (1) two (seldom one) postoculars, (2) two temporals (seldom one), (3) the fourth supralabial touch parietal when temporal is one, and the fourth supralabial does not touch parietal when temporals are two; (4) ventrals 107–136, subcaudals 17–28 pairs (Zhong et al. 2015). Plagiopholis blakewayi is clearly distinguishable from P. nuchalis by the absence of a loreal shield, the lower number of posterior temporals (0 or 1 vs. 2 in P. nuchalis), and a lower number of supralabials (5 vs. 6 in P. nuchalis). Other points of distinction include that in P. blakewayi only the 3rd supralabial touches the eye and the 4th is the largest one, whereas in P. nuchalis the 3rd and 4th supralabials are in contact with the eye and the 5th is largest [from TILLACK et al. 2006]. |
Comment | Synonymy: Oligodon kunmingensis KOU & WU 1993 is a synonym of P. blakewayi [Kucharzewski 2009, Sauria 31: 56]. A detailed description of this species can be found in TILLACK et al. 2006. P. blakewayi has been considered as a synonym of P. nuchalis. Plagiopholis unipostocularis has been synonymized with Plagiopholis blakewayi by ZHONG et al. 2015. Type species: Plagiopholis blakewayi BOULENGER 1893: 301 is the type species of the genus Plagiopholis BOULENGER 1893. |
Etymology | Named after Lieutenant Blakeway who resigned from the British army (1861) and collected reptiles in Toungyi, South Shan States (Myanmar) (1890s) (Beolens et al. 2011). |
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