Oligodon cyclurus (Cantor, 1839)

Oligodon cyclurus View in CoL ( N = 84):

Examined specimens: BANGLADESH: Rangpur City: ZSI-K 7087. INDIA: Meghalaya State: BNHS 804, 806; West Bengal State: BNHS 808–812, NHMW 24535.4, 24535.8, ZSI-K 7087, 8611–12, 12878, 18674. MYANMAR: No further locality data: MCZ R-177743–744, R-2281, R-3647, R-4205; NHMUK 1868.4.9.7–8, 68.4.3.52–54, 1908.6.23.47, NHMW 25822.3, 25822.5–7, ZSI-K 7091, 8616 12390; Ayeyarwady Region: BNHS 802; CAS 204963, 213299, 222679, 222888; NHMUK 1938.8.7.29; USNM 587335; Bago Region: NHMUK 93.1.16.3, 1924.1.30.2; Chin State: CAS 220123; Kachin State: MSNG 30525 (A–B, D), 30259, NHMW 24534.2, USNM 123439; Mandalay Region: CAS 216181; NHMUK 1925.9.18.1–6; 1925.11.22.36–37; Sagaing Region: CAS 215602, 211598; USNM 520625, 524069–70, 537439; Shan State: CAS 236093, MSNG 31969, NHMUK 1970.1982; Tanintharyi Region: NHMUK 84.5.8.12, 1940.3.4.39; Yangon Region: BNHS 799; CAS 208430, 213326, 213502; NHMUK 1908.6.23.48–49 (1–4); UF 48849; ZSI-K 11571. NO FURTHER LOCALITY DATA: BNHS 813, ZSI-K (unnumbered specimen).

APPENDIX 3. Summary statistics from the principal components analysis (PCA) comparing morphological traits of the three OTUs of Oligodon albocinctus . Refer to the materials and methods for morphological character acronyms.

APPENDIX 3. (Continued)

APPENDIX 4. Transliteration of the handwritten notes on Coronella albocincta made by Theodore Cantor from his unpublished manuscript “ Indian Serpents–Innocuous –Collected, figured & described (1831–1837) ”.

|19| Descript p.95. / Harmless Serpents.17. / Coronella albocincta, Cantor / Cantor. 6 May 1836 / From a specimen in spirits |7.| Xenodon albocinctus, Cantor. Chirra Punji / Coronella albocincta, Cantor

|95| Coronella, Boie / Coronella Lycodon albocincta / Fig. 17. / C. viride canescens, fasciis transversalibus albis, / nigro marginatis, quorum / intervalla nigro punc-/tata, scutis abdominali-/bus alterne fuscis. / Scuta abdominalia 181 / Scutilla subcaudalia 65 / Habitat. Chirra Poonjee, Assam. / Greyish green with white / transversal bands edged / with black, the inter-/vals / |96| between which dotted / with black; the ab-/dominal scuta yellow-/ish white, alternately / deep brown / Assamese name: Patdei-hee. / The shape of the head / approaches the rhomboid-/al form; it is broader / than the neck, covered / with nine shields, the / eyes, nostrils, the gape/ & the distribution / of the teeth resemble / those parts in the / Lycodon Coronella cyclurus , / which is also the case with / the general appearance / of / |97| the trunk & tail. / The general color is / greyish green with me-/tallic lustre; between / the eyes runs a whitish / transversal band, which / continues backwards & / downwards over the temples / to the angle of the / mouth, from the posterior / margin of this band commence two others, / which become broader / as they terminate on diverging descend to / the sides of the neck / all of them are edged / with a narrow line / of black. About one / inch from the head / commence a series of / white |98| transversal ^ narrow bands / interrupted set off in / black zig-zag borders, / leaving intervals of / about one inch in / length between each / other; these intervals / are generally marked / by two or three / transversal lines of / black dots produced / by the posterior edges / of the scales being / black. These latter / as well as the white / bands, the members of / which varies with each / individual, cease at / the commencement / of / |99| the posterior third / half of the back / from whence the / general color is a / greyish green. The / lips & the abdominal / surface is yellowish / white, every second or / third of the scuta / being of a deep brown / color; near the tail / nearly all the scuta / are more or less colored / with brown, whereas / only a few & with of the scutella & with / irregular distances par-/take of these marks.

|100| Dimensions.

ft. in. lin./

Breadth of the head…. 0. 0. 8./

Length of the head…. 0. 0. 10./

“ “ “ trunk…. 1. 8. 7./

“ “ “ tail…. 0. 6. 3. /

Total length…. 2. 3. 8./ Circumf of the neck…. 1 inch 9 lin / Greatest circumf of the trunk 2 in 6 lin. /

The sketch is made / from a specimen con-/tained in a collec-/tion of serpents from / Chirra-Poonjee, with / which I was favoured / through the kindness / of Mr. Grant. I after-/wards found several / in Mr. Griffiths / col-/ |101| ection from Assam. / According to notes taken / on the spot by Mr. / Griffith, the natural / color has hardly under / gone any changes by / the influence of the / spirits of wine. / Specimens of this Lycodon Coronella / of a greyish brown / with pale cinnamon-coloured / bands occur occasion-/ally, examination / of such has led me / to believe that these / varieties of colors are / mere accidental, very / likely mixing from / the period elapsed / since / |102| the serpent changed / the skin, as it is / well known that / the colors are not / brilliant & viewed that / by after this process / & fade on even slight / by change as the / skin becomes exfold. / The size those speci-/mens from Assam / was nearly equal / to the one here des-/cribed.

APPENDIX 5. Transliteration of the handwritten notes on Coronella cyclura made by Theodore Cantor from his unpublished manuscript “ Indian Serpents–Innocuous –Collected, figured & described (1831–1837) ”.

|17| Descript p.83. / Harmless Serpents.15. / Th[e] Cantor. 8 Aug 1836 / Coronella cyclura, Cantor |20| Tukkr Bora/ Coronella cyclura / Xenodon cyclurus, Cantor, Bengal /

|83| Coronella Lycodon cyclura Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 Cor. vi-/ridè-canescens striis / nigris obliquis inter-/ ruptis, abdomine mar- /garitaceo, vitta tristè / cinerea utrinque incluso / Scuta abdominalia 179 / Scuta subcaudalia 43 /Habitat. Bengal / Greyish green with black/ oblique interrupted stripes, / the abdominal surface/pearlcoloured, enclosed/ on both sides by a/ deep/ |84| ashy-grey ribband/ Vernacular name. Tukkr-Bora/

The head ovate, depressed, / a little broader than/the neck, covered with/nine shields, the upper/jar projecting over the/ lower, the rostrum / as in all the species/ of this genus of a con./siderable size; the / nostrils very small / opening in the middle / of one larger shield; the / eyes very small, pro-/minent of a brilliant / jet black, surrounded/ by one prae-& two very / minute post-orbital/ shields; the lips covered/ with |85| 8/8 [fraction] labial shields; the/mouth small with palatal + maxillar tooth/ distant reflex sharp / teeth. The size of the / last maxillar tooth / in the upper jaw, [striked text] exceeds re-/markably the others/ & is cutting on its/ convex or anterior / edge, but not provided/ with any furrow. The/ tongue is rather short/ black & bifurcate/ [striked line of text]/ The trunk is cylindrical / a rather heavy snake. The / tail is thick, shortening in a sharp point. / The scales of the body/ are nearly quadrangular/ & imbricate. The abdominal / scuta are two lines long/ & about seven lines broad. / The general color is greyish / green. |86| Some of the scales of / the trunk are edged / with black, & produce/ thus a number of / black interrupted stri-/pes converging / toward the head. The / [dimples?] & lips are/ of a dull yellow, which / soon changes into a / deep ashgrey ribbon, / following the flanks to the commencement/ of the tail. The abdo/minal surface is / pearl-coloured.

Dimensions /

ft. in. lin./

Breadth of the head … 0. 0. 9./

Length of the head…. 0. 0. 10./

“ “ “ trunk….. 1. 9[.] 0./

“ “ “ tail….. 0. 3. 2. /

Total length….. 2ft. 1 inch./

|88| Circumference of the neck 2 inch. /Greatest circumf. Of the trunk/ 2 in. 6 line. / This species as well as the / one described by Russell / under the name of Kat- / la Tutta, No. XXXV, Col./ Russelli, Daudin, Lycodon / Russelli, Boie. belong / to the rarer of the ben-/gallee Fauna & are / said to be found in dry / parts of the jungle. / The small kind of / lizards & mice appear / to be their favourite / food. They are rather / indolent, slow in / movements & not easily / provoked to bite. Not / withstanding the susp-/icious / |88| appearance of the last / maxillary tooth, the bite / is accompanied by no / evil consequences ex-/ periments tried upon / animals produced only slight transient symp-/toms of pain. The sali-/varian glands are not / much developed, in fact / injection proves that / the pernicious qualities / equally attributed / to both of these species / of Lycodon are quite / unfounded. It is of-/serted by the natives & / I have myself observed / that the Coronella Lycodon cyclura / when at rest always furls / the tail either to the / right or left sides & / |89| even when moving, the / tail does not follow / the movement of the / rest of the body, but / retains more or less / the circular attitude. / The size of full grown / ones is said not to ex-/ceed two feet and a half, / one in my posession / lived around of five / months, although it never / would forced food.

APPENDIX 6. Gazetteer of localities of Oligodon albocinctus and Oligodon amabilis comb. nov. used to generate distribution maps in this study. Corrected localities are given in brackets. Observations from iNaturalist marked with an asterisk “*” had “obscured” geoprivacy during the time of examination. Additional acronyms that were not mentioned in the materials and methods include AD: Field series of Abhijit Das, India; BWS: Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary Museum, Bhutan; JK: Field series of Ke Jiang, China; SCMRS: Zoology Museum, Sherubtse College, Bhutan.