Ahaetulla sahyadrensis
| Ahaetulla sahyadrensis | |
|---|---|
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| In Kerala. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Ahaetuliinae |
| Genus: | Ahaetulla |
| Species: | A. sahyadrensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Ahaetulla sahyadrensis Mallik, Srikanthan, Pal, Princia D'Souza, Shanker, and Ganesh, 2020
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| Synonyms | |
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Ahaetulla sahyadrensis is a species of tree snake endemic to the Western Ghats of India.[1][2][3]
Taxonomy
It was formerly considered conspecific with A. pulverulenta (now considered to be restricted to Sri Lanka), and was described as a subspecies of it (A. p. indica) by Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in 1955. However, a 2020 study recovered it as a distinct species. In addition, a now-defunct subspecies of Ahaetulla prasina, A. p. indica, was described by Rudolf Mell in 1931. Thus, the combination Ahaetulla pulverulenta indica would be a homonym to Ahaetulla prasina indica. To solve this, a new replacement name, A. sahyadrensis, was erected in 2020.[1]
Geographic range
This species is the most widespread of all vine snakes endemic to the Western Ghats, ranging from Gujarat south to Kerala and Tamil Nadu.[1]
Habitat
It is found in moist deciduous and evergreen forests from just above sea level up to 1500 msl. They are usually found in the vicinity of perennial streams.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Mallik, Ashok Kumar; Srikanthan, Achyuthan N.; Pal, Saunak P.; D’souza, Princia Margaret; Shanker, Kartik; Ganesh, Sumaithangi Rajagopalan (2020-11-06). "Disentangling vines: a study of morphological crypsis and genetic divergence in vine snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Ahaetulla ) with the description of five new species from Peninsular India". Zootaxa. 4874 (1): 1–62. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4874.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
- ^ Reporter, Staff (2020-11-14). "New species of vine snakes discovered". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
- ^ "The discovery of five new species of vine snakes in India". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-11-26.