New kukri snake species discovered in Vietnam
Scientists from France, Vietnam, China and Germany have discovered and described a kukri snake new to science in the journal Zootaxa, issue 3498 (September 2012), based on specimens collected in China, Vietnam and Laos.
The news was announced on 4 October by Dr. Nguyễn Quảng Trường of the Viện Sinh thái và Tài nguyên sinh vật (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources), part of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.
The new snake has the scientific name Oligodon nagao David, Nguyen, Nguyen, Jiang, Chen, Teynié & Ziegler, 2012. It is named after the Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (Japan) in recognition of the foundation's support for biodiversity research and conservation in developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The researchers found the new species during field surveys in southern China, northeastern Vietnam and central Laos.
The Nagao kukri snake, Oligodon nagao
According to the original description, the Nagao kukri snake Oligodon nagao has a head-and-body length of 561-680 mm and a tail length of 92-107 mm; 15 or 17 dorsal scale rows at midbody; males have a hemipenis that is not bilobed but bears two small branches at the tip; 7-8 supralabial scales; 184-193 ventral scales; and an undivided anal plate. The upper body is pale gray with dark, butterfly-shaped blotches with yellowish-brown centers: 27-37 blotches on the back and 5-8 on the tail. The belly is cream-colored with many small black spots.
“The Nagao kukri snake is closely tied to limestone karst habitats at elevations of 170-470 m above sea level. The species is currently known from Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng provinces in northern Vietnam, Guangxi (China) and Khammouane (Laos). It is the 20th kukri snake species recorded in Vietnam, the 14th in China and the 13th in Laos,” Dr. Trường said.
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