On the taxonomy and systematics of the recently described Lycodon deccanensis Ganesh, Deuti, Punith, Achyuthan, Mallik, Adhikari, Vogel, 2020 (Serpentes, Colubridae) from India

By

Kalki, Yatin
Gowda, Sachin
Agnivamshi, Manu
Singh, Karthik
Patel, Harshil
Mirza, Zeeshan A

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020-12-15

Original Publication

Evolutionary systematics

Volume

4

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

109--118

Subjects

cytochrome b , molecular phylogeny , snake systematics , taxonomy , wolf snakes

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Hamburg Centrum für Naturkunde (CeNak) 2017-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.4.60570

 

Abstract

Lycodon deccanensisGanesh, Deuti, Punith, Achyuthan, Mallik, Adhikari, Vogel, 2020 was recently described from the Mysore plateau of Karnataka based solely on morphology but lacking in-depth descriptions and comparisons. A scrutiny of the description reveals that the type series, of two specimens, comprise specimens of two different species along with discrepancies throughout the paper. Surveys conducted near the type locality of the species led to the discovery of additional specimens, which allow us to provide an elaborate description of the species and present data on its phylogenetic relationship with members of the genus and comments on the systematics ofLycodonof India. Results from molecular phylogenetics suggest thatLycodon deccanensisis a member of theL. aulicusclade based on molecular data for mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and shows an un-corrected p-distance (sequence divergence) of 14–17% from other members of theLycodon aulicusclade.