15 

 INFRASPECIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF SOME CHINESE SNAKES l") 



ZHAOErmi 

 Chengdu Institute of Biology, Academia Sinica, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041 China 



Abstract. - In this article, variations in scalation of four snake species are 

 investigated. Methods commonly applied in the studies of infraspecific variations have 

 been applied. Four new subspecies are described. 



Key words. - Subspecific classification - Coefficient of difference - Mean value 

 comparison - Xenopeltis hainamnsis jidamingae - Psammodynastes pulverulentus 

 papenfussi - Ovophis monticola zhaokentangi - Trimeresurus stejnegerii chenbihuii 



[53] 



The author of the present article, while preparing the chapter on snakes in the Encyclopedia of 

 Chinese Animals for the National Foundation of Natural Sciences within the scope of the Eighth Five-year 

 Plan, discovered that some populations of Xenopeltis hainanensis, Psammodynastes pulverulentus, 

 Ovophis monticola and Trimeresurus stejnegerii are differentiated. Studies of meristic characters in 

 connection with current methods used for differentiation of subspecies, such as the coefficient of difference 

 (CD.) and the mean value comparison (MaYR et al., 1965, translated by ZHENG Z. X.) have shown that 

 these populations have reached a subspecific level. 



3 The subspecies of the Shan laotietou I''*' 



Ovophis monticola is widely distributed from eastern Himalaya towards east up to Indochina and 

 southern provinces of China. It was divided into five subspecies, among which zayuensis is distinct enough 

 from other subspecies to deserve specific status and was renamed Ovophis zayuensis (ZHAO, 1995). 

 Specimens from northern Vietnam have a lower number of ventral scales (129-138, mean: 134), and 

 BOURRET (1935) created the subspecies meridionalis to accomodate them. The high number of dorsal 

 scale rows (25-29, mean: 26 or more) in Taiwan animals led TakaHASHI (1922) to define the subspecies 

 makazayazaya. The subspecies monticola and orientalis (SCHMIDT, 1925) differ by the pattern of head 

 spots, and, although the value V + Sc l^^l is slightly inferior to the value accepted for separating 

 subspecies, the mean value comparison corresponds to the value on which is based the distinction of 

 subspecies (Table 3). Examination of specimens showed that specimens from the population de Gongshan, 

 north of Pianma, Lushui County, Yunnan Province, have a relatively higher number of ventral and 

 subcaudal scales and are clearly different from those of other populations (Table 3). 



