A sheep in wolf's clothing: Elaphe xiphodonta sp. nov. (Squamata, Colubridae) and its possible mimicry to Protobothrops jerdonii

A new, rare, small-ranged, and endangered mountain snake of the genus Elaphe from the Southern Levant

The genus Elaphe Fitzinger, 1833 includes 17 species of charismatic, large-sized, non-venomous, Eurasian snakes. In the Western Palearctic, the genus is represented by three species from the Elaphe quatuorlineata group ranging from the Apennine peninsula to Central Asia. The southernmost population of this group is distributed in the mountains of the Southern Levant, with more than 400 km gap to other Elaphe populations. This population has been known to science for only 50 years and is virtually unstudied due to its extreme rarity. We studied these snakes' morphological and genetic variation from the three countries where they are known to occur, i.e., Israel (Hermon, the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights), Lebanon, and Syria. We used nine mitochondrial and nuclear genes, complete mitogenome sequences, and a comprehensive morphological examination including published data, our own field observations, and museum specimens, to study its relationship to other species in the group. The three currently recognized species of the group (E. quatuorlineata, E. sauromates, E. urartica), and the Levant population, form four deeply divergent, strongly supported clades. Three of these clades correspond to the abovementioned species while the Southern Levant clade, which is genetically and morphologically distinct from all named congeners, is described here as a new species, Elaphe druzei sp. nov. The basal divergence of this group is estimated to be the Late Miocene with subsequent radiation from 5.1 to 3.9 Mya. The revealed biogeography of the E. quatuorlineata group supports the importance of the Levant as a major center of endemism and diversity of biota in Eurasia. The new species is large-sized and is one of the rarest snakes in the Western Palearctic. Because of its small mountain distribution range, in an area affected by land use and climate change, the new Elaphe urgently needs strict protection. Despite political issues, we hope this will be based on the cooperation of all countries where the new species occurs.

A new species of the genus Achalinus (Squamata: Xenodermidae) from Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, China

A new species of odd-scaled snake in the genus Achalinus is described from Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, China, based on seven female specimens. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsum iridescent and uniformly dark brown in preservative, longitudinal vertebral line absent; (2) light brown beneath; (3) dotted black streak in the middle of the subcaudals absent; (4) tail length relatively short, TaL/ToL 12–16%, in females; (5) fewer subcaudals, 41–46 in females; (6) dorsal scales 23 rows throughout, strongly keeled; the outer-most rows on both sides are also keeled and slightly enlarged; (7) one loreal; (8) internasal not fused to prefrontal; (9) suture between internasals is similar in size when compared to the suture between prefrontals; (10) preocular and postocular absent; (11) 6 supralabials; (12) 5 infralabials, the first 3 (rarely 2) touching the first pair of chin shields; (13) 3 pairs of chin shields. A phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1), showed that this new species forms a monophyletic group with strong support. In addition, the uncorrected p-distances between the new species and other known congeners ranged from 3.4% to 13.0%. The recognition of the new species increases the number of described Achalinus species to 21.