TY - JOUR

T1 - Confirmation of Liopeltis rappi (Günther, 1860) in Himachal Pradesh

AU - Kuttalam, Sourish Rajagopalan

AU - Santra, Vishal

AU - Owens, John Benjamin

AU - Ahmed, Molla Talhauddin

AU - Bharti, Omesh

AU - Selvan, Melvin

AU - Mukherjee, Nilanjan

AU - Malhotra, Anita

PY - 2022/10

Y1 - 2022/10

N2 - Liopeltis Fitzinger, 1943, is an Asian genus consisting of small, slender, and non-venomous colubrid snakes. It is characterized by a cylindrical body bearing smooth scales in 13, 15 or 17 rows, without the presence of apical pits. Ventrals are rounded and the tail is long with paired subcaudals. These snakes do not exceed 800mm in total length (Smith 1943). Smith placed the members of the genus in two distinct groups, one with the head distinct from the neck and mid body scales uniformly in 15 rows, and the second with the head not or scarcely distinct from the neck, a dark bar across the neck, and nostrils large, between two nasals. Currently, Liopeltisis represented globally by six species, four of which are present in India (Poyarkov Jr et al. 2019). We collected a freshly road killed specimen of L. rappi in Bhanjraru, Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh (N 32º53.945’ E 076º09.123’), at an elevation of 1690m. The habitat that surrounded the highway the specimen was found at was mainly dense pine forests with a shrub undergrowth. The forests were also punctuated by some large boulders and rock faces

AB - Liopeltis Fitzinger, 1943, is an Asian genus consisting of small, slender, and non-venomous colubrid snakes. It is characterized by a cylindrical body bearing smooth scales in 13, 15 or 17 rows, without the presence of apical pits. Ventrals are rounded and the tail is long with paired subcaudals. These snakes do not exceed 800mm in total length (Smith 1943). Smith placed the members of the genus in two distinct groups, one with the head distinct from the neck and mid body scales uniformly in 15 rows, and the second with the head not or scarcely distinct from the neck, a dark bar across the neck, and nostrils large, between two nasals. Currently, Liopeltisis represented globally by six species, four of which are present in India (Poyarkov Jr et al. 2019). We collected a freshly road killed specimen of L. rappi in Bhanjraru, Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh (N 32º53.945’ E 076º09.123’), at an elevation of 1690m. The habitat that surrounded the highway the specimen was found at was mainly dense pine forests with a shrub undergrowth. The forests were also punctuated by some large boulders and rock faces

M3 - Article

VL - 39

SP - 85

EP - 88

JO - Hamadryad

JF - Hamadryad

IS - 1-2

ER -