A new record of odd-scaled snake (Serpentes, Xenodermidae) from Vietnam: expanded description of Parafimbrios vietnamensis based on integrative taxonomy

By

Botanicheskii institut im. V.L. Komarova
Ermakov, Oleg
Nguyen, Tao Thien
Ananʹeva, N. B.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1048

Pages

79--89

Subjects

Distribution , molecular identification , Morphology , odd-scaled snake , Parafimbrios , Vietnam , Xenodermidae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1048.66477

 

Abstract

Based on the combination of molecular and morphological data, we herein report the second known finding of the xenodermid snake species Parafimbrios vietnamensis Ziegler, Ngo, Pham, Nguyen, Le & Nguyen, 2018. The male individual was found in the Yen Bai Province of northwestern Vietnam, more than 200 km from the type locality in Lai Chau Province. Genetic divergence between the newly-collected male and the holotype was low (1.7%), and is in agreement with morphological data that supports that they are conspecific. We give a detailed description of the morphological characters and coloration of the new record and provide an expanded diagnosis of P. vietnamensis. Parafimbrios is a poorly-understood genus, and our recent discovery brings the total number of known specimens of the genus to nine, 1/3 of them having been found in Vietnam (one specimen of P. lao and now two specimens of P. vietnamensis).