Lost and found: rediscovery and systematics of the Northeast Indian snake Hebius pealii (Sclater, 1891)

Title: Lost and found: rediscovery and systematics of the Northeast Indian snake Hebius pealii (Sclater, 1891)

Creators: Abhijit Das, David J. Gower, V. Deepak

Submitted May 6, 2020.
Accepted June 19, 2020.
Published online at www.senckenberg.de/vertebrate-zoology on June 26, 2020.
Published in print Q3/2020.

DOI: 10.26049/VZ70-3-2020-04
PDF/A 6.6 MB

Published by Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung

Date (Publication Year): 2020

Resource Type (General): TEXT

Resource Type (optional): Vertebrate Zoology, Scientific Article

Description (en): We report the rediscovery of the keelback snake Hebius pealii after 129 years from Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. We designate a lectotype for the species, and provide the first description of a female, of colour in life, and aspects of its natural history. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses of two mitochondrial (1071 bp cytb, 508 bp 16s) and two nuclear (560 bp bdnf, 579 bp cmos) genes provides strong evidence for Hebius pealii being nested within the genus Herpetoreas instead of Hebius. We transfer this species to the genus Herpetoreas.

Key words: Eastern Himalaya, Herpetoreas, Herpetoreas platyceps, Natricinae, phylogeny, snakes.

Citation: Das, A., Gower, D. J., Deepak, V. (2020). Lost and found: rediscovery and systematics of the Northeast Indian snake Hebius pealii (Sclater, 1891).
Vertebrate Zoology, 70(3): 305-318. https://doi.org/10.26049/VZ70-3-2020-04