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Introduction
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Publications
Publications (147)
We add seventeen new provincial records for fifteen snake species of Laos with precise localities and elevations. These new records result from 45 independent surveys conducted at different times between the years 2016 and 2021 in all Laotian provinces except Attapu. In all field trips, we took a series of photographs that allowed us to prepare hig...
Variations in morphological characters were investigated among 124 specimens covering the whole range of the large, Indo-Malayan pitviper complex of species currently known as Trimeresurus hageni (Lidth de Jeude, 1886). Herein, we redefine T. hageni and discuss and confirm the validities of its description and name-bearing type; the lectotype is re...
Based on 85 examined specimens, photographs of living specimens and illustrations published in the literature, we refine the distribution ranges of both Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1854) and of the recently described species Gonyosoma coeruleum Liu, Hou, Ye Htet Lwin, Wang & Rao, 2021, which was not clearly addressed in its original description. We...
A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826, is described based on two specimens originating from Champasak Province in southern Lao PDR. This species differs from congeners occurring in the Indochinese Region by possessing 15 dorsal scale rows at midbody, an unforked hemipenis, an entire cloacal plate, a relatively low number of ventral pl...
The recent revision of the Ahaetulla nasuta complex in South Asia (India and Sri Lanka) resulted in a major modification of the systematics of this previously wide-ranging species. Ahaetulla nasuta sensu stricto is now endemic to Sri Lanka while other species inhabit Peninsular India. We here analyze the status of the nominal taxa including those c...
We examined and identified preserved specimens, skins, and photographs from a collection of 83 snakes from northern Thailand presenting the characters of the genus Hebius Thompson, 1913. They belong to at least six different taxa divided into five species including a new one described here, namely H. bitaeniatus (Wall, 1925), H. deschauenseei (Tayl...
In two different publications, William Theobald described, during the same year (1868), two taxa at species level in the snake genus Pareas, namely Pareas macularius and Pareas berdmorei, both based on the same syntypes. However, these two taxa are distinct at species level. We here discuss these descriptions, especially that of P. berdmorei which...
The taxonomic history of the Amphiesma sensu lato has long been confused, and this complex was recently divided into three genera, i.e., Amphiesma Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854 sensu stricto, Hebius Thompson, 1913, and Herpetoreas Günther, 1860. Being the least known genus, Herpetoreas is reviewed herein through an integrative taxonomic approa...
The systematics of Rhabdophis subminiatus (Schlegel, 1837) at subspecies level has long proved to be controversial. We analyse the variation of selected morphological characters in 179 specimens from populations covering the whole range of R. subminiatus sensu lato. Based on this review, we recognize four morphological groups, of which two do not a...
There are currently 3,900 recognized, extant snake species belonging to 529 genera globally (Uetz et al. 2021; this study), making snakes one of the most diverse major groups of squamates. Of the 665 currently recognized species that were described between 2001 and 2020 (a ~17% increase in total species), ~34% of these (226 species) were described...
Species of the genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 with 17 or 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody and an overall dark venter are reviewed, including the two species previously known as Parahelicops annamensis Bourret, 1934 and Pararhabdophis chapaensis Bourret, 1934. Specimens with 17 scale rows are morphologically similar to Hebius venningi (Wall, 1910), whic...
The nomen ‘Ptyas carinata (Günther, 1858)’, applied since 1864 to a large colubrid snake species of the Oriental region first reported from Borneo, is shown to be in fact an invalid junior objective synonym of Ptyas dhumnades (Cantor, 1842), a species of the same genus inhabiting China, Laos and Vietnam. In order to preserve the use of the well-kno...
A new species of the genus Lycodon Boie in Fitzinger is described on the basis of three specimens collected on the Khorat Plateau, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. Lycodon gibsonae spec. nov. is superficially similar to L. fasciatus (Anderson), it differs by its much larger size, a higher number of ventral and subcaudal scales, and a lower num...
A new species of the family Natricidae Bonaparte is described from a single specimen obtained in Arunachal State, northeastern India. On the basis of its external morphology and of its dentition on the upper maxilla, i.e. 24 + 3 distinctly enlarged teeth separated by a short diastema, it is referred to the genus Hebius Thompson. Hebius lacrima spec...
Examination of specimens originating from several populations currently identified as Elapoidis fusca Boie in Boie, 1827 showed that the Sumatran population differs in several characters from the Javan population. These differences bear on the coloration and pattern, the number of ventrals in males and females, and on the relative tail length of ma...
New morphological data including hemipenis morphology is provided for Opisthotropis jacobi, a poorly known Mountain Stream Keelback from Vietnam and China, based on three newly collected individuals from Sa Pa (Lao Cai Province) and Tam Dao (Vinh Phuc Province) in northern Vietnam. In addition, morphological data from Vietnam is summarized based on...
Book review [in French]
The description of Opisthotropis tamdaoensis Ziegler, David & Vu, 2008, which was based on the male
holotype only, is expanded herein on the basis of four newly collected specimens from the type locality of the species, including three adult females. Based on the enlarged sample size and thus extended range of morphological characters in O. tamdaoe...
We describe Oligodon huahin sp. nov. from a bamboo forest locality on the road to Pala-U waterfall, Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, peninsular Thailand. It is characterized by a maximal known SVL of 553.7 mm; 6 maxillary teeth, the posterior two enlarged; 17-17-15 or 17-15-15 dorsal scale rows; 166–173 ventrals and 35–41 subcaudals...
Nous mentionnons pour la première fois au Laos la présence de quatre espèces de serpents (Azemiops feae, Plagiopholis nuchalis, Rhynchophis frenatus et Indotyphlops albiceps). Les caractères séparant Azemiops feae d'Azemiops kharini, une espèce décrite récemment, sont discutés et remis en question. Nous confirmons également la présence au Laos de d...
The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009;...
This plot is not part of the published stance but derives from it. The plot shows the number of authors by geographic region (courtesy of Dr. Diego Astua).
A checklist of the Asian pitvipers with comments is provided
We provide the first confirmed record of the freshwater snake Amphiesma leucomystax (Squamata: Natricidae) from Thailand, based on an adult male specimen from Nak Prok, Selaphum District, Roi Et Province, northeastern Thailand. Its 168 ventral scales slightly extend the variation known for this character in the species. This new range extension rei...
Parahelicops boonsongi Taylor & Elbel, 1958 is known from only three specimens from Thailand. It has been placed
either in the genus Parahelicops Bourret, 1934, along with Parahelicops annamensis Bourret, 1934, or in the genus
Opisthotropis Günther, 1872. We compared its morphological characters with those of P. annamensis and with three other rele...
A male snake collected in Louangphabang Province and a second specimen observed in Houaphan Province, North Laos, share morphological characters with the Asian genus Fimbrios Smith, 1921, including erected edges on the first supra-and infralabial scales, but differ in the following morphological characters: fewer dorsal scale rows (25–27 vs. 30–33)...
A male snake collected in Louangphabang Province and a second specimen observed in Houaphan Province, North Laos, share morphological characters with the Asian genus Fimbrios Smith, 1921, including erected edges on the first supra-and infralabial scales, but differ in the following morphological characters: fewer dorsal scale rows (25–27 vs. 30–33)...
A male snake collected in Louangphabang Province and a second specimen observed in Houaphan Province, North Laos, share morphological characters with the Asian genus Fimbrios Smith, 1921, including erected edges on the first supra-and infralabial scales, but differ in the following morphological characters: fewer dorsal scale rows (25–27 vs. 30–33)...
A male snake collected in Louangphabang Province and a second specimen observed in Houaphan Province, North Laos, share morphological characters with the Asian genus Fimbrios Smith, 1921, including erected edges on the first supra-and infralabial scales, but differ in the following morphological characters: fewer dorsal scale rows (25–27 vs. 30–33)...
A male snake collected in Louangphabang Province and a second specimen observed in Houaphan Province, North Laos, share morphological characters with the Asian genus Fimbrios Smith, 1921, including erected edges on the first supra-and infralabial scales, but differ in the following morphological characters: fewer dorsal scale rows (25-27 vs. 30-33)...
Natrix clerki Wall, 1925, previously known from its sole holotype and considered a synonym of Amphiesma parallelum (Boulenger, 1890), is resurrected in the genus Amphiesma on the basis of the analysis of morphological variation in 28 specimens of "Amphiesma parallelum" auctorum, plus six living, unvouchered specimens discovered in Arunachal Pradesh...
Zootaxa 3914 (2): 144–156 www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3914.2.4 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org: Abstract A new species of the genus Gekko Laurenti is described from central Laos. The species is distinguished from its congeners by its moderate size, i.e. maximum SVL 80.0 mm, dorsal pattern of five to s...
A male snake collected in Louangphabang Province and a second specimen observed in Houaphan Province, North Laos, share morphological characters with the Asian genus Fimbrios Smith, 1921, including erected edges on the first supra- and infralabial scales, but differ in the following morphological characters: fewer dorsal scale rows (25–27 vs. 30–33...
Abstract.—Variation in morphological characters were investigated among 126 specimens
from at least 67 populations covering the whole range of the large pitviper currently known as
Trimeresurus sumatranus (Raffles, 1822). The results showed that two distinct taxa are involved.
Herein Trimeresurus sumatranus is redefined. In order to fix the status...
The Asian pitviper currently identified as Trimeresurus labialis Fitzinger in Steindachner, 1867 is revised on the basis of morphological data obtained from 37 preserved specimens originating from seven islands of the Nicobar Islands. Multi-variate analyses shows that these specimens can be divided into two clusters of populations which differ by a...
The Asian pitviper currently identified as Trimeresurus labialis Fitzinger in Steindachner, 1867 is revised on the basis of morphological data obtained from 37 preserved specimens originating from seven islands of the Nicobar Islands. Multivariate analyses shows that these specimens can be divided into two clusters of populations which differ by a...
Two specimens, a male and a female, of the genus Opisthotropis Günther, 1872 were collected in a karst formation of northern Louangphabang (or Luang Prabang) Province, North Laos. These specimens are assigned to the genus Opisthotropis on the basis of their morphology, dentition and cephalic scalation. However, they differ from all other known spec...
New national and provincial records of amphibians and reptiles in Laos. Here we present a summary of new localities of amphibians and reptiles recorded during our recent field trps in 2012 and 2013 across several provinces of Laos and preliminary ecological data on this species. We add yet unpublished data obtained during previous trips. Data are c...
We present a collation of snakes of the High Wavy Mountains, Western Ghats, India by combining records in historical literature, past work and recent field studies. A total of 62 species and subspecies (vs. 38 previously) of snakes are currently recorded from High Wavy Mountains (abridged as High Wavys). Most snakes of the High Wavys belong to the...
Three species of the genus Amphiesma Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 have long been confused in the literature, with each other and with other species of the genus. Amphiesma khasiense (Boulenger, 1890) has been considered to inhabit a large geographical region, extending from north-eastern India, east to Vietnam and southern Thailand. Amphiesma bo...
The nomenclatural status of the name-bearing types of the taxon Agama ruderata Olivier, 1804 is analyzed on the basis of the original publication and of the available material in agreement with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. In order to resolve some problems of nomenclature and avoid further complications that arise in the inter...
On the basis of a different dorsal pattern, and a low number of maxillary teeth, the specimens of Oligodon
joynsoni (Smith, 1917) from the Nonggang National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China formerly identified as O. joynsoni
by several authors should be referred to the recently described species O. nagao David, Nguyen, Nguyen, Jiang, Chen,
Teynié, an...
A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826, Oligodon nagao sp. nov, is described on the basis of five specimens originating from Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces in northern Vietnam, Guangxi Autonomous Region in southern People's Republic of China, and from Khammouane Province in central Laos PDR. This species differs from other species of...
Morphological variation was investigated across the entire geographic range of the snakes of the Xenochrophis piscator
species group. Our results, based on morphological univariate analyses, show the existence of several well-defined
clusters identified as species. Xenochrophis flavipunctatus (Hallowell, 1861) is distinct from X. piscator (Schneide...
The purpose of this application, under Articles 12 and 75.3 of the Code, is
to conserve the long and continuing usage of the specific name wagleri for a Southeast
Asian species of venomous snake by ruling that the specific name Cophias wagleri was
established by F. Boie (1827). This would involve setting aside all previous usages of
that name and d...
The name-bearing type specimens of Trimeresurus monticola meridionalis Bourret, 1935 are shown to be composed of
two primary syntypes that are referable to Ovophis monticola (Günther, 1864) as currently conceived, and a secondary
syntype that belongs to Ovophis convictus (Stoliczka, 1870). Based on comparison of the three syntypes with other taxa
o...
A new species of the genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826, Oligodon wagneri sp. nov., is described on the basis of a single
specimen originating from Nias Island, off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It differs from other species of the region
by the combination of a constant number (15) of dorsal scale rows, undivided hemipenes, entire anal plate,...
La faune des serpents du Togo : systématique, répartition et biogéographie, avec des remarques sur quelques problèmes taxonomiques. Nous présentons une liste commentée des 91 espèces de serpents actuellement connues au Togo, Afrique occidentale. Sept espèces sont signalées pour la première fois dans ce pays: Calabaria reinhardtii, Hapsidophrys line...
This paper analyzes the consequences of the non-respect of the Rules of the Code to ascertain the valid subsequent designation of the nucleospecies (type species) of the nominal genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804. The long accepted designation was invalid because it was based on a nominal species which was not among the prenucleospecies (originally...
A new species of the gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827, Cyrtodactylus teyniei spec. nov., is described based on a single adult female from Borikhamxay Province, central Laos. It is distinguished from any other Cyrtodactylus species by the combination of the following characters: (1) SVL 89.9 mm, (2) longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles 19, (...
This paper deals with three nomenclatural and taxonomic problems affecting two species groups of the colubrid snake
genus Oligodon Fitzinger, 1826: (i) A neotype is formally designated for Coronella cyclura Cantor, 1839, associating this
specific nomen with populations from India, Bangladesh and Myanmar with 19 scale rows at midbody; (ii) Oligodon...
A new species of the snake genus Opisthotropis Günther, 1872, Opisthotropis cucae sp. nov., is described from Kon Tum Plateau in central Vietnam. It is distinguished from any other Opisthotropis species by the combination of the following characters: (1) dorsal scales entirely smooth, in 23-19-19 rows; (2) 191 ventrals; (3) 1 loreal, in contact wit...
We provide an analysis of Indraneil Das' 'Field Guide to the Reptiles of South-East Asia'. We stress some mistakes in the illustration of snake nomenclature. Several misidentifications on species illustration plates are corrected (Tropidophorus, Python). Based on the species accounts presented in the book, we provide number of reptile taxa in South...
Amphibians and reptiles were collected in Sumatra during two short field trips, around Lake Maninjau in Sumatera Barat Province (West Sumatra Province) and in Jambi Province. On the basis of preserved specimens and / or photographed specimens, the collection includes 17 species of amphibians (1 Caecilia, 16 Anura) and 38 species of reptiles (11 liz...
Amphibians and reptiles were collected in Sumatra during two short field trips, around Lake Maninjau in Sumatera Barat Province (West Sumatra Province) and in Jambi Province. On the basis of preserved specimens and / or photographed specimens, the collection includes 17 species of amphibians (1 Caecilia, 16 Anura) and 38 species of reptiles (11 liz...
Amphiesmoides ornaticeps (Werner, 1924), an addition to the snake fauna of Vietnam, with a redescription and comments on the genus Amphiesmoides Malnate, 1961 (Squamata: Natricidae). -Natricine specimens recently collected in northern Vietnam are referable to Amphiesmoides ornaticeps, a barely known species previously recorded only from southeaster...
A new species of the natricine snake genus Amphiesma is described from a single specimen obtained from Bor-neo by Franz Steindachner in 1878. Amphiesma arquus sp. nov. is distinguished from other species of the Sunda Region by the combination of an elongated body, 17 + 3 enlarged maxillary teeth, 17 – 17 – 15 dorsal scale rows, all strongly keeled,...
A new species of the genus Lycodon is described from Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China. It differs
from the superficially similar Lycodon fasciatus by the fact that the loreal is not entering orbit, in colouration, and
lower numbers of subcaudals and infralabials. From the Lycodon ruhstrati group it differs by the colouration of the vente...