A new species of Plagiopholis Boulenger, 1893 (Serpentes, Pseudoxenodontinae) from southeastern Yunnan, China

2026/04/28 by Shuo Liu, Mian Hou, Dingqi Rao · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Amphibian and Reptile Biology #Turtle Biology and Conservation #Venomous Animal Envenomation and Studies

paper · doi:10.3897/evolsyst.10.188735

openalex publication_date 2026/04/28 · openalex created_date 2026/04/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

A new species of the genus Plagiopholis is described based on a single specimen collected from Wenshan Prefecture, southeastern Yunnan Province, China. Compared with other species of the genus, it has a unique combination of morphological characteristics: one loreal, six supralabials, 2+2 temporals, smooth anterior dorsal scales and feebly keeled posterior dorsal scales, 116 ventral scales, 32 subcaudal scales, some subcaudal scales being paired and some being unpaired, an inverted “V” shaped nuchal blotch, and a yellowish white ventral surface with many small dark spots. Phylogenetically, the new species formed a distinct clade in the genus and diverged from other species of the genus by 8.6%–16.6% in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. This study increases the number of valid species of the genus Plagiopholis to eight.

Citations

• IQ-TREE: A Fast and Effective Stochastic Algorithm for Estimating Maximum-Likelihood Phylogenies
• MrBayes 3.2: Efficient Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference and Model Choice Across a Large Model Space
• MAFFT Multiple Sequence Alignment Software Version 7: Improvements in Performance and Usability
• MEGA12: Molecular Evolutionary Genetic Analysis Version 12 for Adaptive and Green Computing
• Re-discovery and re-description of the true Plagiopholis styani (Boulenger, 1899) (Serpentes, Pseudoxenodontidae), with the taxonomic status of the populations previously considered as P. styani
• A new species of Plagiopholis Boulenger, 1893 (Serpentes, Pseudoxenodontidae) from Guangdong, China

Discussions

• A new species of snake within the genus Plagiopholis was discovered in China, increasing the total number of recognised species in this group to eight. This specimen was identified through a genetic d [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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