Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai LALRONUNGA, LALHMANGAIHA, ZOSANGLIANA, LALHMINGLIANI, GOWER, DAS & DEEPAK, 2021
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Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai
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| Higher Taxa | Xenodermidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Lushai hills dragon snake (English). Mizo: rulphusin |
| Synonym | Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai LALRONUNGA, LALHMANGAIHA, ZOSANGLIANA, LALHMINGLIANI, GOWER, DAS & DEEPAK 2021 |
| Distribution | India (Mizoram) Type locality: Tuinghaleng river near its confluence with Tuirivang river at the vicinity of Phulpui village, Aizawl District, Mizoram, India (23.573°N, 92.756°E, 235 m elevation |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. BNHS 3656 (Figs. 1–2, Table 1), male, by K. Lalhman- gaiha and Isaac Zosangliana on 02 March 2021. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis and Identification. The new species has the following features, typical of the genus Stoliczkia as re- ported by Smith (1943): (1) maxillary teeth small and subequal, (2) head very distinct from (much wider than) neck, with large shields, the shields entire or separated by small scales, (3) posterior one-third of the head and temporal region covered with small scales like those of the body, (4) nostril in a large concave nasal, (5) body slender and compressed, and (6) ventrals large. Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai sp. nov. differs from its congeners in having fewer ventrals (194 versus 207–208 in S. khasiensis and 205–210 in S. borneensis) and more subcaudals (138 versus 114–115 in male S. khasiensis and 117–124 in male and female S. borneensis). Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai sp. nov. also differs from S. khasiensis in having more dorsal scale rows at midbody (33 versus 31), and more supraoculars (three versus a single large supra- ocular). Photographs of the two known specimens of S. khasiensis and a previously published drawing of this spe- cies are provided in Figs. 4–6. Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai sp. nov. also differs from S. borneensis in colour pattern, being distinctly bicoloured with a dark dorsum and pale venter that meet along a regular, straight line, versus having blotches of the pale ventral colour extending dorsolaterally up the flanks and smaller pale blotches middorsally. Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai sp. nov. and S. borneensis possibly also differ taxonomically in infra- and supralabials, dorsal scale rows and subcaudals (Table 1) but there is only a single specimen of each available for comparison, and/or differences between these two specimens are smaller than between the new species and the two specimens of S. khasiensis (Table 1), so we do not include those differences here. |
| Comment | Sympatry: Ahaetulla prasina (Boie, 1827), Coelognathus radiatus (Boie, 1827), Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin, 1789), Fowlea piscator (Schneider, 1799), Her- petoreas xenura (Wall, 1907), Lycodon zawi Slowinski, Pawar, Win, Thin, Gyi, Oo & Tun, 2001, Naja kaouthia Lesson, 1831, Ptyas korros (Schlegel, 1837), and Trimeresurus erythrurus (Cantor, 1839), and the lizards Calotes emma Gray, 1845, C. versicolor (Daudin, 1802), and Sphenomorphus sp. Amphibians found in this area include the frogs Amolops indoburmanensis Dever, Fuiten, Konu & Wilkinson, 2012, Euphlyctis kalasgramensis Howlader, Nair, Gopalan & Merilä, 2015, Ingerana borealis (Annandale, 1912), Microhyla berdmorei (Blyth, 1856), Odor- rana chloronota (Günther, 1876), Minervarya asmati (Howlader, 2011), Pterorana khare Kiyasetuo & Khare, 1986, Raorchestes sp., Sylvirana lacrima Sheridan & Stuart, 2018, Xenophrys major (Boulenger, 1908), and X. serchhipii Mathew & Sen, 2007. |
| Etymology | Named in honour of Vanhnuailiana, a famous Mizo chief and warrior of the Lushai Hills (in present day Mizoram state in India) in the mid 1800s. For nomenclatural purposes, the species epithet is considered a noun in apposition. The Mizo name rulphusin, means ‘snake with small scales’. |
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