THE SNAKES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



By Edward H. Taylor 



INTRODUCTION 



Since American occupation in 1898, a few notable herpeto- 

 logical collections have been made in the Philippines, which have 

 resulted in the discovery of several species new to science and 

 of others heretofore unknown for the Islands. The collections 

 in the Bureau of Science were enriched by the work of H. M. 

 Weber and W. Schultze in Palawan, of C. Canonizado in 

 Polillo, and of Lawrence E. Griffin in Mlndoro, Palawan, Ban- 

 tayan, and Luzon. Since 1912 I have collected extensively in 

 central eastern Mindanao, Negros, Mindoro, Palawan, Busuanga, 

 Lubang, Sulu Archipelago, and Luzon. 



Dr. Lawrence E. Griffin during his stay in the Islands made 

 a preliminary study of the collection in the Bureau of Science 

 and later published four papers. One of these describes two new 

 species of snakes from Negros, one gives a list of Palawan 

 snakes, another gives a list of snakes from Polillo, and the fourth 

 is a checklist and key to all known Philippine snakes. 



The results of my collecting in Negros and in Sulu are in- 

 corporated in two short papers treating of the reptilian faunas 

 of those localities. Another paper treats of the genus Holarchus 

 and describes two new species. A fourth paper * includes de- 

 scriptions of several new snakes from various Philippine local- 

 ities. In the present monograph the following supposedly new 

 species and subspecies are described : 



Typhlops dendrophis. Dryophis griseus. 



Typhlops mindanensis. Dryophis preocularis. 



Calamaria suluensis. HeTnihungams mcclungi. 



Calamaria tropica. Naja naja philippinensis. 

 Boiga dendrophila divergens. 



In spite of a rather thorough exploration of some parts of the 

 Islands herpetologically, large areas are comparatively unknown. 

 Thus, I have not a single authentic record for Bohol or for 

 Marinduque, and very few for Cebu, Masbate, Leyte, Panay, and 



* Philip. Journ. Sci. 14 (1919) 105-125. 



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