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Wallaceophis gujaratensis MIRZA, VYAS, PATEL, MAHETA & SANAP, 2016

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Wallace’s striped snake/ Wallace’s racer 
SynonymWallaceophis gujaratensis MIRZA, VYAS, PATEL, MAHETA & SANAP 2016: 4
Wallaceophis gujaratenesis — MIRZA et al. 2016: 1 (in error)
Wallaceophis gujarateneis — MIRZA et al. 2016: 4 (in error)
Wallacoephis gujaratenesis — MIRZA et al. 2016: Figure 8 (in error)
Wallacophis gujaratensis — MIRZA et al. 2016: Figure 9 (in error)
Wallaceophis gujaratensis — MIRZA & PATEL 2017 
DistributionIndia (Gujarat)

Type locality: Khengariya village, Viramgam taluka, Ahmedabad district, Gujarat state, India (23.0217946° N, 72.0217584° E), elevation 21m  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype: NCBS HA-105, male, collected by Jaydeep Maheta on 24th July 2014. Paratypes. female BNHS 3503, collected form near Amreli, Amreli district, Gujarat state, India by Viral Joshi on 20th March 2013. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus). A medium sized snake in relation to members of the family measuring SVL 250–930 mm differing from most colubrid genera in lacking hypapophyses on posterior dorsal vertebrae (Fig 2) and in bearing nine maxillary teeth and the posterior-most teeth are subequal, nine palatine teeth. Dorsal scale reduction characterized by vertebral reductions, increase of scale rows posterior to neck, a single lateral reduction at midbody and regular vertebral reduc- tions in posterior half of the body. Rostral not visible from above, a small presubocular present. Eight supralabials, fourth and fifth in contact with orbit, anal undivided, 215–216 ventrals, 51– 54 subcaudals, hemipenis subcylindrical, spinose throughout and 3–4 dorsal scale row wide black longitudinal stripe running from the post nasal to the tail tip on each side on a wheat colored dorsum.


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CommentSynonymy: The species name was misspelled multiple times in Mirza et al. 2016, with the arguably correct name “gujaratensis” appearing only on page 4, with incorrect variations on previous and later pages.

Type species: Wallaceophis gujaratensis MIRZA et al. 2016: 4 is the type species of the genus Wallaceophis MIRZA et al. 2016. 
EtymologyThe specific epithet refers to Gujarat state in western India where the new species was discovered.

The genus name is a compound of two words, the first being a patronym honoring Alfred Russel Wallace for his pioneering work on biogeography and for co-discovering the theory of natural selection with a suffix ‘ophis’ (όφιB) meaning snake in Greek. Gender of the proposed generic name is masculine. 
References
  • Kwet, Axel 2017. Neue Arten: Liste der im Jahr 2016 neu beschriebenen Reptilien. Terraria-Elaphe 2017 (3): 54-70 - get paper here
  • Maheta, J., Thakor, R., Shankhala, P., Prajapati, D., Zala, A., Bharavad, L., ... & Patel, S. 2023. Updated checklist of snakes with the first record of Spalerosophis arenarius in Gujarat and range extensions of five fpecies of snakes in the northern region of Gujarat, India. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18403 - get paper here
  • Maheta, Jaydeep; Vishal Varma, Shruti Patel, and Zala Atulsinh 2020. Range extension of Wallace’s Striped Racer, Wallaceophis gujaratensis (Squamata: Colubridae), in north-central Gujarat, India. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (1): 83 - get paper here
  • Mirza ZA, Vyas R, Patel H, Maheta J, Sanap RV 2016. A New Miocene-Divergent Lineage of Old World Racer Snake from India. PLoS One 11 (3): e0148380;doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148380 - get paper here
  • Mirza, Zeeshan A. and Harshil Patel 2017. Back from the dead! Resurrection and revalidation of the Indian endemic snake genus Wallophis Werner, 1929 (Squamata: Colubridae) insights from molecular data. MITOCHONDRIAL DNA A - get paper here
  • Parmar D S 2019. Description of head scalation variation, hemipenis, reproduction, and behavior of the Indian Smooth Snake, Coronella brachyura (Günther 1866). Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1) [General Section]: 78–89 (e164)
  • Patel, Harshil; and Raju Vyas 2019. Reptiles of Gujarat, India: Updated Checklist, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Herpetology Notes 12: 765-777 - get paper here
  • VYAS, RAJU; DEVVRATSINH MORI, KARTIK UPADHYAY & HARSHIL PATEL 2019. Notes on Wallace’s Racer Wallaceophis gujaratensis (Serpentes, Colubrinae): a recently described species endemic to Gujarat, India. Herpetological Bulletin 147: - get paper here
  • Vyas, Raju; Farukh Chauhan 2021. Notes on the natural history of Wallace’s Racer, (Wallaceophis gujaratensis) (Colubridae), in Gujarat, India. Reptiles & Amphibians 28 (2): 345-347
 
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