Platyceps ladacensis (ANDERSON, 1871)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Platyceps ladacensis?
Platyceps ladacensis
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Braid Snake, Jan’s Cliff Racer G: Jans Pfeilnatter |
| Synonym | Zamenis ladacensis ANDERSON 1871: 16 Zamenis ladacensis — BOETTGER 1892 Zamenis ladacensis — ZUGMAYER 1909: 484 Coluber rhodorhachis ladacensis — NILSON & ANDREN 1981: 140 Coluber rhodorhachis ladacensis — KHAN 2002 (pers. comm.) Coluber ladacensis — WHITAKER & CAPTAIN 2004 Platyceps rhodorhachis ladacensis — RASTEGAR-POUYANI et al. 2008 Platyceps ladacensis — PERRY 2012 Platyceps rhodorhachis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 566 Platyceps rhodorhachis ladacensis — SCHÄTTI et al. 2014: 338 Platyceps rhodorhachis ladacensis — MALIK et al. 2021 |
| Distribution | Afghanistan, north to S Turkmenistan, S Uzbekistan, W Tajikistan, Pakistan (KHAN 2004), India (Himachal Pradesh) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: ZSI 7323; PERRY 2012 stated that the type was “lost”. |
| Diagnosis | |
| Comment | See also P. rhodorhachis. Distribution: BOETTGER 1892 reported this species from Aden (Yemen) which may be a misidentification. Previously reported from Iran but not listed by Kamali 2020. Synonymy: ladacensis has been considered a color pattern variation of rhodorachis ever since J. Anderson (1895) recognized that this species had already been described by Jan in 1865 (fide RASTEGAR-POUYANI et al. 2008). Listed as synonym of Platyceps rhodorhachis by WALLACH et al. 2014: 566. Anderson (1871) described this taxon as “pale olive brown, marked on the anterior half of the body by broad brown dorsal bands only a little darker than the general colour of the snake, distinct near the anterior part of the body, but obscure behind.” The ventrals were described as “pale yellow,” and dorsal scales had two apical pores. The type specimen had 102 pairs of subcaudal scales. |
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