Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2024 | 16(5): 25268–25272
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8910.16.5.25268-25272
#8910 | Received 10 January 2024 | Final received 29 April 2024 | Finally
accepted 01 May 2024
New country record of Trimeresurus uetzi
Vogel, Nguyen & David, 2023 (Reptilia: Squamata:
Viperidae) from India
Lal Biakzuala
1, Lal Muansanga 2 , Fanai
Malsawmdawngliana 3, Lalrinnunga
Hmar 4 & Hmar Tlawmte Lalremsanga 5
1,2,3,5 Developmental Biology and
Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Mizoram University,
Aizawl, Mizoram 796004, India.
4 Department of History, Mizoram
University, Aizawl, Mizoram 796004, India.
1 bzachawngthu123@gmail.com, 2
muanapunte16@gmail.com, 3 sawmattryx@gmail.com, 4 nungahmar@gmail.com,
5 htlrsa@yahoo.co.in (corresponding author)
Editor: S.R. Ganesh, Kalinga Foundation, Shivamogga,
India. Date of publication: 26 May 2024
(online & print)
Citation: Biakzuala, L., L. Muansanga, F. Malsawmdawngliana, L. Hmar & H.T. Lalremsanga
(2024).
New country record of Trimeresurus uetzi Vogel, Nguyen & David, 2023 (Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae) from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(5): 25268–25272. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8910.16.5.25268-25272
Copyright: © Biakzuala et al. 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Rufford Small Grant (36771-1); The award
of a National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi (202122-NFST-MIZ-00046), DST-SERB, New Delhi (DST
No: EEQ/2021/000243); and Chicago Zoological Society, Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) Endangered Species Fund awards 2023. Logos attached.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We are thankful to the Environment,
Forests & Climate Change Department, Government of
Mizoram, for the herpetological specimen collection permits within the State of
Mizoram (Permit No. A.33011/2/99-CWLW/225). LB is grateful to the Rufford Foundation for the first Rufford Small Grant (36771-1); and the award of NFST under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India,
New Delhi (202122-NFST-MIZ-00046) to FMS. The senior author HTL acknowledges
the following agencies: DST-SERB, New Delhi (DST No: EEQ/2021/000243); and
Chicago Zoological Society, Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Endangered
Species Fund awards 2023. We are thankful to Dr Gernot Vogel for helping in
identification of specimens.
The systematics of the
White-lipped Pit Viper Trimeresurus albolabris Gray, 1842 group has been reviewed by
several workers, and a subspecies level taxonomy was historically proposed
(Kramer 1977; Regenass & Kramer 1981). However,
the original members of this group—T. insularis Kramer,
1977 and T. septentrionalis Kramer, 1977—were
eventually elevated to species status by Giannasi et
al. (2001). Later, genetic studies also showed the paraphyly of T. albolabris group (Malhotra & Thorpe 1997, 2000; Zhu
et al. 2016), and the distribution range of T. albolabris
sensu stricto was
subsequently restricted to southeastern China and northeastern Vietnam (Chen et
al. 2021). Several new species were described from the T. albolabris group during recent years, such as, T. caudornatus Chen, Yu, Vogel, Shi, Song, Tang, Yang,
Ding & Chen, 2020; T. davidi Chandramouli, Campbell & Vogel, 2020; T. guoi Chen, Shi, Gao, Vogel, Song, Ding & Dai, 2021;
T. salazar Mirza, Bhosale, Phansalkar,
Sawant, Gowande & Patel, 2020; and most recently,
T. uetzi Vogel, Nguyen & David, 2023 (see
also Vogel et al. 2023).
In this study, we examined
specimens of Trimeresurus species housed in
the collection of Departmental Museum of Zoology, Mizoram University (MZMU).
Head measurements were taken using Mitutoyo dial vernier
caliper (Model 505–730) to the nearest 0.01 mm, while
the snout-vent length (SVL) and tail length (TaL)
were taken using measuring tape. Ventrals (Ve) and mid dorsal scales row (MSR) were counted following
Dowling (1951), and the terminal scute is excluded
while counting subcaudals (Sc). Dorsal scales were counted at one head length
just behind the head, at mid body, and one head length just before the vent.
Morphologically, one adult male
of the examined museum specimens collected from Mizoram University campus
(23.7384°N; 92.6642°E; 822 m; Figure 1) did not match with the taxonomic
features of other Trimeresurus species,
which were already confirmed from Mizoram State and adjacent regions. MZMU 3333
differs from regional congeners in having Ven 165
versus 159–164 in male T. caudornatus Chen,
Ding, Vogel and Shi, 2020, MSR 21 vs 23 (24, 25) in male T. erythrurus (Cantor 1839); ventrolateral stripes and a postocular stripe present vs absent, iris copper vs
firebrick-red or deep red in males T. guoi Chen,
Shi, Vogel & Shi, 2021; ventrolateral stripe white vs stripe bicolor (red
and white), Ven 165 vs 157–162, and Sc 69 vs 54–67 in
males T. mayaae Rathee,
Purkayastha, Lalremsanga, Dalal, Biakzuala, Muansanga & Mirza, 2022, and 10 cephalic scales feebly
keeled between the supraoculars vs 11–13, iris
copper coloured vs red to deep red, and ventrolateral
stripes and a postocular stripe present vs absent in
males of T. popeiorum
Smith, 1937 (see also Mathew 2007; Lalremsanga et
al. 2011; Mirza et al. 2023; Vogel et al. 2023; Idiiatullina
et al. 2024). Instead, it is in agreement with the diagnostic features of the
recently described T. uetzi as provided in the
original description (Vogel et al. 2023): presence of white postocular
stripe in males; first supralabial not fused with
nasal scale; 10 cephalic scales feebly keeled (range 9–10); Ven
165 (range 154–171) in males; Sc 69 (range 50–71 in males); dorsal scale rows
21:21:15 (Images 1 & 2). Other morphological data of MZMU 3333 are provided
in Table 1. The live snake depicted in Image 2, is not the Aizawl voucher
specimen, but an uncollected male, sighted in Reiek
Community Reserve Forest, some 5 km aerial distance west of Mizoram University
campus – the collection site of MZMU 3333. We also attribute this individual to
T. uetzi, as it possesses 21 dorsal mid body
scale rows, green gold colored iris; a grass green dorsum and yellowish-green
venter; a white postocular streak from the anterior
margin of the nasal scale that connects posteriorly to the white dorsolateral
stripe at the corner of the mouth, plus lack of red stripes on facial and
ventrolateral regions. Trimeresurus uetzi is a species so far known from central and
southern Myanmar but unrecorded from India (Vogel et al. 2023). The present
specimen MZMU 3333 from Aizawl, thus represents the longest male recorded so
far, 612 mm in total length against the existing maximum total length 591 mm
(Holotype; CAS 243024) (see Vogel et al. 2023) and forms the first record of
this species from within Indian boundary.
Unfortunately, we were unable to
generate DNA data from the MZMU 3333 due to preservation of the specimen in
formalin. We recommend obtaining more specimens and genetic data from a fresh
sample to corroborate the present report and to further investigate putative
cryptic diversity especially among green pit-vipers in northeastern India.
However, this work represents a new country record of the species from India
and a range extension of the species by ca. 215 km aerial distance
northwestward from the type locality at Mauk Village,
Gangaw Township, Pakhokku
District, Magway Region, Myanmar which is also the nearest known locality from
our record (see Vogel et al. 2023). Considering the refinement of the range of
the previously confused species, T. septentrionalis
sensu stricto (now
restricted to the western and central Himalayan regions of Nepal and northern
India), there is high probability that the population of T. septentrionalis in Bangladesh as also doubted by Vogel
et al. (2022) might actually be T. uetzi or T.
salazar, considering that records of the later
species are closer to Bangladesh which will require further reassessment. Apart
from the criteria of geographical range, we discriminated our male specimen of T.
uetzi by its lower total number of ventral and
subcaudal scales, i.e., 234 vs. 241.67±7.76 in male T. septentrionalis;
white postocular stripe wide and conspicuous covering
1–2 scales vs. usually absent or thin and pale, covering 1 scale in T. septentrionalis (fide Vogel et al. 2023).
We also opine that the Indian
population may not be unheard of, but just that the recent description of T.
uetzi by Vogel et al. (2023) enabled us to
recognize it as a species. Although
several workers have recently described new Trimeresurus
species particularly from the Indo-Burma region (e.g., Mirza et al. 2020; Rathee et al. 2022; Chan et al. 2023; Vogel et al. 2023),
the systematics of many Trimeresurus species
from this region need further reassessment through integrated taxonomic
approaches (Vogel et al. 2023). Limited sampling bolstered by intricated
phenotypic variations and phylogenetic uncertainty are seemingly attributable
to the systematics challenges for this group in the Indo-Burma region (see
Malhotra & Thorpe 2000; Chandramouli et al. 2020;
Chen et al. 2020; Mallik et al. 2021; Vogel et al. 2022, 2023).
Table 1. Morphometric
(in mm) and meristic data of Trimeresurus uetzi from Mizoram, northeastern India. The general
data for the species were adopted from Vogel et al. (2023).
Sources |
This study |
General data from Vogel et al. (2023) |
|
Museum voucher |
MZMU 3333 |
|
|
Sex |
male |
males |
females |
Snout-vent length (mm) |
485 |
251–472 |
242–689 |
Tail length (mm) |
127 |
48–119 |
53–122 |
Tail length/Total length |
20.8% |
16%–22% |
14%–16% |
Head length (mm) |
25.84 |
- |
- |
Head width (mm) |
14.71 |
- |
- |
Horizontal eye diameter (mm) |
3.79 |
- |
- |
Eye to nostril distance (mm) |
5.79 |
- |
- |
Snout tip to anterior eye
distance (mm) |
7.98 |
- |
- |
Snout width (mm) |
5.70 |
- |
- |
Interorbital distance (mm) |
11.34 |
- |
- |
Internarial distance (mm) |
5.04 |
- |
- |
Ventrals (mm) |
165 |
154–172 |
157–171 |
Preventral |
2 |
- |
- |
Subcaudals |
69 |
60–71 |
50–55 |
Dorsal scale rows |
21:21:15 |
21:21:15 |
21:21:15 |
Supralabials |
10/11 |
10–12/10–12 |
9–12/9–11 |
Infralabials |
12/13 |
10–14/11–13 |
11–14/11–14 |
Anal scale |
undivided |
- |
- |
Cephalic scales |
10 |
9–10 |
9–10 |
For
figure & images - - click here for full PDF
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