Hebius gilhodesi (Bohra & Nguyen & Vogel & Lalremsanga & Biakzuala & Das & Warjri & Thongni & Poyarkov & Purkayastha, 1925)

Hebius gilhodesi View in CoL comb. nov. (Wall, 1925)

( Fig. 10C, 10D View FIGURE 10 , 11 View FIGURE 11 , 12 View FIGURE 12 and 13 View FIGURE 13 ; Table 3 View TABLE 3 )

Natrix gilhodesi — Wall 1925a: 587: Plate: Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 : 2a–c.— Type locality. “Huton, Bhamo district (30 miles north-east of Bhamo; circa 4,500 feet; Lat. Circa 97°.33; Long. Circa 24°.24)”, now near Hutung (24.758590°N, 97.411820°E), Bhamo district, Kachin State, Myanmar. Holotype — BMNH 1946.1 .13.62 (adult male; formerly BM 1925.4.2.8); collected by Reverend Father Gilhodes and deposited by F. Wall. Paratypes — BMNH 1946.1 .13.63 (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4 .2.10 (an adult female), BMNH 1925.4 .2.11 (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4 .2.12 (an adult female), BMNH 1925.4 .2.13 (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4 .2.14 (an adult male), BMNH 1925.4 .2.15 (an adult female) and BMNH 1925.4.2.15A (an adult female), all bearing the same collection details as holotype.

Chresonyms

Natrix gihodesi — Wall 1925b:808 (Wall incorrectly spelled “ gilhodesi ” as “ gihodesi ”).

Natrix khasiensis — Wall 1926:559 (Wall himself synonymized his described species gilhodesi with khasiensis ).

Materials examined

Holotype ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 )— BMNH 1946.1.13.62 (formerly BM 1925.4.2.8), an adult male collected by Reverend Father Gilhodes from Huton , Bhamo district (30 miles north-east of Bhamo; circa 4,500 feet; Lat. Circa 97°.33; Long. Circa 24°.24)”; now near Hutung (24.758590°N, 97.411820°E), Bhamo district, Kachin State, Myanmar. GoogleMaps

Paratypes ( Fig. 12 View FIGURE 12 )— BMNH 1946.1.13.63 (formerly BM 1925.4.2.9) (an adult male), GoogleMaps BMNH 1925.4.2.10 (an adult female), GoogleMaps BMNH 1925.4.2.11 (an adult male), GoogleMaps BMNH 1925.4.2.12 (an adult female), GoogleMaps BMNH 1925.4.2.13 (an adult male), GoogleMaps BMNH 1925.4.2.14 (an adult male), GoogleMaps BMNH 1925.4.2.15 (an adult female) and GoogleMaps BMNH 1925.4.2.15A (an adult female), all bearing the same collection details as holotype GoogleMaps .

Referred materials — BMNH 1974.884 (an adult female) collected by Frank Wall from nearby Alangdunhku, Putao district, Kachin State, Myanmar (27.25°N, 97.75°E); CAS 221504, CAS 221525, CAS 221543, all adult females collected by the Late J.B. Slowinski, D.O. Rao, G.O.U. Wogan, Late H. Win, A.K. Shein, K.S. Lwin & H. Tun on 9 th September 2001 from Naung Mon Township (27º26’N, 97°55’E; 27º27’N, 97°55’E & 27º27’N, 97°55’E), Putao district, Kachin State, Myanmar; CAS 224654, CAS 224694, all adult females collected from Nangmung town, Nangmung Township, Putao district, Kachin State, Myanmar (27°30’N, 97°48’E; 27°30’N, 97°49’E) by the Late H. Win, Y.N. T Na, H. Ram & S. Di on 13 th April, 2002.

Notes: Natrix gilhodesi was described by Wall (1925a) based on collections sent to him by Reverend Father Gilhodes but Wall (1926) himself synonymized “ gilhodesi ” with Natrix (Hebius) khasiensis later. This synonymy was widely accepted by many authors including Smith (1943) and David et al. (2013). In the original description, Wall (1925a) stated that he had six specimens in hand (one as the type i.e. BMNH 1946.1.13.62 {formerly BM 1925.4.2.8} and the other five as co-types) but according to the catalogue of the Natural History Museum, London, there are a total of eight specimens in the original series as co-types (see David et al. 2013:308), clearly indicating that Wall (1925a) didn’t mention about the remaining three included co-types or paratypes. Furthermore in the same journal, Wall (1925b) stated that he had 19 collections from Kachin State, out of which the largest specimen was 488 mm (versus the largest specimen in the original type series of gilhodesi according to Wall (1925a) is 530 mm), clearly indicating that the second collection mentioned by Wall (1925b) should not be a part of the original collection as mentioned in Wall (1925a). Moreover, “ gilhodesi ” was misspelt as “ gihodesi ” in Wall (1925b). We herein revalidate this species from the synonymy of Hebius khasiensis ( Guo et al. 2014) and designate Hebius gilhodesi comb. nov. as a valid taxon in the genus Hebius .

Diagnosis and description: A medium sized natricid snake growing upto a maximum SVL of 435 mm and is diagnosed from all other congeners based on the combination of following characters: (1) cylindrical body with 19 (OSR):19 (MSR):17 (PSR) dorsal scale rows, all of which are strongly keeled except for the outermost row close to ventral edges that are either smooth or very feebly keeled. Posterior region of the body close to the base of the tail are always strongly keeled; (2) ventrals 143–153; (3) subcaudals 87–111, all paired or divided; (4) anal plate divided or paired; (5) tail relatively long with a Tal/TL ratio of 0.296 –0.346 (6) 9 supralabials or upper labials out of which 4 th to 6 th are touching the orbit and the last three supralabials are comparatively much larger; (7) 10–11 infralabials or lower labials out of which the first five are touching the first pair of anterior chin shields; (8) nasal scale distinct and divided, nostril lies laterally in the center of the nasal scale; (9) internasals divided or paired; (10) a single loreal scale on either side of the head dorso-laterally; (11) 21–23 maxillary teeth on both sides which gets slightly enlarged posteriorly including the last two to three posterior teeth without diastema that are moderately enlarged as compared to the anterior ones; (12) dorsal body coloration in life mostly with a reddish tinge, somewhat rusty brown in life; dorso-lateral stripe on the dorsum is absent and is instead replaced by a series of indistinct, very obscure, tiny faded or ochre spots which properly continues till the midbody (13) upper lips or supralabials are usually off white in coloration intermixed with distinct black markings that are usually present in and around the marginal edges of each supralabial scale, the black markings become comparatively somewhat larger in the last three supralabials; (14) nape with an indistinct, discontinuous off whitish or creamish streak which breaks into whitish spots and each whitish spot are separated from each other by an interval of at least 2–5 dorsal scales usually (except for a single specimen where the spots are separated from each other by an interval of only one scale); (15) upper portion of the head in life mainly has three shades of coloration ranging from reddish to rusty brown to sap greenish intermixed with irregular creamy yellowish spots; (16) ventral region is off white in coloration along with the presence of distinct black spots on the ventral edges of each ventral, anal and each subcaudal scale throughout, thereby forming a thin, distinct and dark ventro-lateral line like appearance.

Description of the holotype ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 ): An adult male with a cylindrical as well as a slender body having a TL (total length) of 525 mm, SVL 346 mm, Tal 179 mm and a Tal/TL ratio of 0.341.

Head is elongated, moderately large and is somewhat distinct from neck (HL/SVL 0.04); Snout is rather large, as long as broad and semi-oval in shape as seen from above. Eye is moderately large (ED1 2.7 mm; ED2 2.5 mm) and pupils are round. Rostral is partially visible from above, much wider than high and is in broad contact with 1 st supralabial, anterior portion of nasal and inter-nasals; the nasal scale is on either dorso-lateral side of the head and is irregularly pentagonal, somewhat elongated, completely divided sub-equally into two halves (the posterior half slightly larger than the anterior half) by a somewhat perpendicular suture above and below the crescentic nostril; the nostril lies right in the center of the nasal scale laterally; a pair of internasals clearly visible from above, slightly broader than long (L–INas 1.4 mm; W–INas 1.5 mm; L–INas/W–INas 0.9) and are in broad contact with each other; each internasal is irregularly sub-triangular in shape and is in contact with rostral, nasal and prefrontal scales; a pair of pre-frontals that are either irregularly pentagonal or irregularly hexagonal in shape, slightly wider than long (L–PreFro/ W–PreFro 0.8) and are broadly connected with each other; prefrontal larger than internasal in terms of both length and width (L–INas/L–PreFro 0.7; W–INas/W–PreFro 0.6) and prefrontal sutures are slightly longer than internasal sutures; prefrontals are in contact with internasal, nasal, loreal, preocular, supraocular and frontal; frontal pentagonal, elongated, longer than broad (FL 4 mm, FW 2.9; FW/FL 0.7 mm), about nearly twice longer than prefrontal length (FL 4mm; L–PreFro 2mm; L–PreFro/ FL 0.5) and is in contact with prefrontal, supraocular as well as parietal; one elongated supraocular above the eyeball on either side that is anteriorly narrowed, irregularly rectangular and is in contact with prefrontal, preocular, frontal, parietal and postocular; a pair of parietals that are large, much longer than broad (L–Par 6.3mm, W–Par 3.1 mm; W–Par/ L–Par 0.5), broadly in contact with each other and are also in contact with dorsal scales on the occiput, temporals (anterior as well as posterior), postocular, supraocular as well as frontal; one small loreal scale on either dorso-lateral side of the head, completely equal in length to depth (L–Lor 1.2mm; H–Lor 1.2mm) and is in contact with 2nd and 3rd supralabials on both the sides; two small preoculars on either dorso-lateral side of the head; 3 postoculars on either dorso-lateral side of the head, the bottom one is very small in size; Temporals 1+1 on the right and 2+1 on the left side. 9 supralabials on both the sides out of which 1st and 2nd are touching the nasals, 2nd and 3rd are touching the loreals and 4th, 5th, 6th are touching the orbit; 10 infralabials on both the sides out of which the first pair is the longest and is in broad contact with each other behind the mental; the first five infralabials are in contact with the anterior pair of chin shields whereas 5th, 6th and 7th are in contact with the posterior pair of chin shields. Mental roughly triangular, wider than high; two pairs of chin shields, posterior chin shields are longer than the anterior ones, separated from each other by a row of three to four medium sized, elongated scales and mental groove is apparent.

Dorsal scales somewhat rhomboid in shape, arranged in 19 (OSR):19 (MSR):17 (PSR) rows, all of which are strongly keeled except for the outermost row close to ventral edges that are either smooth or very feebly keeled; dorsal region behind the neck begins with strongly keeled scales.

Dorsal scale reduction formula:

4+5 → 4 (95) (left)

19 ———————————17

4+5 → 4 (97) (right)

Ventrals are 153 (plus 2 preventrals), anal plate is divided and subcaudals are 111, all of which are paired or divided. Tail is long, complete, having a length of 179 mm, Tal/TL ratio of 0.341 and is gradually tapering posteriorly. Maxillary dentition is 21 (18+3) in number, becoming slightly enlarged posteriorly with the last three posterior teeth being un-grooved, distinct and moderately enlarged, nearly sub-equal with the anterior ones. Furthermore, there is no proper diastema separating the last three enlarged posterior teeth with the anterior ones.

Coloration in preservative: The overall coloration of the specimen looks faded. Dorsal region appears to have shades of brown, mainly chocolate brown whereas the dorsal portion of the head also appears to have shades of brown, particularly burnt sienna. Upper lips or supralabials are usually off white in coloration intermixed with distinct faded dark markings, somewhat burnt sienna in coloration that are usually present in and around the marginal edges of each supralabial scale, the dark markings become comparatively much larger in the last three supralabials. Infralabials are mostly creamish in coloration intermixed with certain faded, indistinct markings having shades of brown i.e. burnt sienna. Nape with an indistinct, discontinuous off whitish or creamish streak which breaks into whitish or creamish spots and each spots are separated from each other by an interval of at least 2–3 dorsal scales. The entire ventral region appears to be creamish in colour with the presence of faded but somewhat distinct dark spots on the ventral edges of each ventral, anal and subcaudal scale, indicating the presence of a thin, dark, distinct ventro-lateral line like appearance in life.

Variation: Refer to table 3 for variation within the type specimens of Hebius gilhodesi comb. nov. Amongst the examined specimens (paratypes as well as referred materials) BMNH 1925.4.2.11, BMNH 1925.4.2.10, BMNH 1925.4.2.12, BMNH 1925.4.2.15A, CAS 221504, CAS 221543 and CAS 224654 are having a Tal/TL ratio of 0.330, 0.322, 0.329, 0.310, 0.296, 0.308 and 0.296 respectively (versus a Tal/TL ratio of 0.341 in the holotype); BMNH 1925.4.2.11, BMNH 1925.4.2.13, BMNH 1925.4.2.10, BMNH 1925.4.2.12, BMNH 1925.4.2.15A, CAS 221504, CAS 221543 and CAS 224654 are having a total subcaudals of 99, 102, 94, 98, 94, 90, 91 and 87 respectively (versus 111 subcaudals in the holotype). BMNH 1946.1.13.63 (an adult male) has a partially distinct, discontinuous off whitish or creamish streak which breaks into two small, elongated spots and each spot are separated from each other by an interval of only one small scale. Apart from all these, other parameters of other specimens (paratypes as well as referred materials) fall well within the range of characteristics of the holotype.

Sexual dimorphism: Refer to table 3 for sexual dimorphism within the type specimens of Hebius gilhodesi comb. nov. This species is having a strong sexual dimorphism in parameters such as Tal/TL ratio (0.330 to 0.346 in males versus 0.296 to 0.329 in females); number of subcaudals (99 to 111 in males versus 87 to 98 in females) and SVL (a maximum SVL of 368 mm in males versus a maximum SVL of 435 mm in females).

Comparisons ( Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 and 8 View FIGURE 8 ): Genetically, H. gilhodesi comb. nov. most closely resembles and forms a sister of H. khasiensis but can be differentiated from the latter species by an un-corrected p-distance of atleast 6.0 to 6.5 % in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and certain morphological parameters (see Table 2 View TABLE 2 and 4 View TABLE 4 ).

Morphologically H. gilhodesi comb. nov. can be very easily diagnosed from all other congeners by the combination of following characters:

(1) Dorsal body coloration in life mostly with a reddish tinge, somewhat rusty brown in life; dorso-lateral stripe on the dorsum is absent and is instead replaced by a series of indistinct, very obscure, tiny faded or ochre spots which properly continues till the midbody (versus brownish olive dorsum with black edged whitish or creamish crossbars on the forebody of H. andreae ; dorsal background dark brown, dark greyish brown or dark brownish-grey, becoming more or less distinctly darker on the back than on sides in H. clerki ; dorsum with irregular, blackish-brown or dark grey blotches in H. deschauenseei ; dorsum mostly olive green intermixed with blackish and whitish spots in H. flavifrons ; dorsum with dark brown, dark chestnut-brown or blackish-brown in H. igneus ; dorsum with sandy beige with the sides yellowish-brown in H. jingdongensis ; dorsum with blackish brown, somewhat checkered in H. johannis ; dorsum with dark grey or blackish brown in H. leucomystax ; dorsum blackish brown or chocolate brown in H. miyajimae ; dorsum dark greyish-brown, brown or dark brown, scattered with blackish-brown or black spots or blotches in H. modestus ; dorsum with shades of mixed yellow along with distinct black lines in H. octolineatus ; dorsum very dark, somewhat blackish brown with whitish or yellowish crossbars edged with black in H. optatus ; dorsum dark reddish-brown or probably dark chestnut-brown, turning to cream, grey, pinkish-grey, tan, more or less dark greyish-brown in H. parallelus ; dorsum mostly dark, greyish black or brownish black in H. popei ; dorsum blackish or chocolate brown mostly along with whitish or yellowish crossbars which fades into small spots towards the posterior half in H. pryeri ; top of dorsum parmasean yellow intermixed with continuous black blotches and flanks are covered with a broad and a continuous pinkish line in H. sanguineus ; dorsum dark slate-gray, with most scales densely speckled with dark grey, minute dots intermixed with large, diffuse dark brown blotches in H. sangzhiensis ; dorsum mostly dark intermixed with shades of mixed yellow such as ochre and dark on the flanks in H. septemlineatus ; dorsum mostly brown ground color, darker on the top in H. terrakarenorum ; dorsum reddish-brown or chocolate brown, somewhat darker medially in H. vibakari ; dorsal region towards midbody reddish brown, forebody and posterior body blackish or greyish brown in H. viperinus ; dorsum mostly greyish black in H. weixiensis ; dorsum greyish black intermixed with yellowish markings in H. yanbianensis ; dorsum mostly dark, brownish black in H. youjiangensis ).

(2) Dorso-lateral stripe on the dorsum is absent and is instead replaced by a series of indistinct, very obscure, tiny faded or ochre spots which properly continues till the midbody (versus present on both sides that are creamish and are edged with black in H. bitaeniatus ; present, one weak yellow stripe marked with a series of rusty spots in H. craspedogaster ; large, elongate blotches, yellow-ochre, rusty red or yellowish-brown in H. deschauenseei ; present, at times continuous and at times yellowish ochre spots forming lines in H. igneus ; present, two brick-red stripes on the dorsolateral scale rows in H. jingdongensis ; usually a lighter spots series or ill-defined lighter-spots made stripe in H. johannis ; present, one well defined greyish-pink strip at first, gradually diffused at back in H. kerinciensis ; somewhat present, vertically elongated or divided dorsolateral spots, salmon or rusty red on a dark grey background in H. leucomystax ; present, one khaki stripe inset by a bold pattern of alternating rows of black squares in H. metusia ; present, three stripes, one yellow, one black, one red stripe in H. miyajimae ; somewhat present, a more or less conspicuous, ochre-yellow, ochre-red, orange-brown or reddish-brown stripe, often reduced to a succession of elongate blotches on the anterior part of the body in H. modestus ; four dorsal stripes on each side, two yellow and two grayish-black in H. octolinatus ; very ill defined, instead a lateral series of black spots in H. petersii ; very ill defined, instead a lateral series of whitish spots which becomes indistinct in the posterior half in H. popei ; not a stripe but a broad pinkish or reddish band on the flanks in H. sanguineus ; Present, a pale brown or beige dorsolateral stripe in H. sangzhiensis ; present, four dorsal stripes on each side, all dark in H. septemlineatus ; very ill defined in H. vibakari ; present, uniform and continuous beige stripe in H. youjiangensis ).

(3) Ventrals off or creamish white along with dark spots on ventral edges forming a distinct ventrolateral line like appearance (versus ventrals yellowish with small dark spots close to edges, ventral edges with zig zag dark line in H. bitaeniatus ; very discontinuous zigzag ventrolateral stripe in H. clerki ; ventrals overall dark, i.e., dark brown, blackish-brown or black in H. igneus ; ventrals light yellow with the outer part of each scale brick-red in H. jingdongensis ; ventrals purple greyish-brown at their outer border, with a row of well-defined dark brown blotches in H. kerinciensis ; ventrals pale ochre-brown or pale brown on a wide central area, broadly edged with dark brown or blackish in H. modestus ; ventrals immaculate pinkish-cream except for the pale salmon corners of the ventral in H. terrakarenorum ; ventral edges in forebody with large, distinct blackish bars in H. viperinus ).

(4) Dorsal scale rows are strongly keeled except for the outermost row close to ventral edges that are either smooth or very feebly keeled (versus outer dorsal scale rows keeled in H. craspedogaster and dorsal scale rows barely or weakly keeled at midbody in H. modestus ).

(5) A Tal/TL ratio of 0.296 –0.346 (versus 0.245 –0.266 in H. bitaeniatus ; equal to 0.295 in H. igneus ; 0.235 – 0.243 in H. jingdongensis ; 0.231 in H. johannis ; 0.238 –0.289 in H. metusia ; 0.28 in H. modestus ; 0.207 –0.274 in H. octolineatus ; 0.221 –0.252 in H. parallelus ; 0.24–0.27 in H. sangzhiensis ; 0.247 –0.281 in H. septemlineatus ; 0.32–0.36 in H. terrakarenorum ; 0.235 –0.256 in H. weixiensis ; 0.256 in H. yanbianensis ).

(6) Ventrals 143–153 (versus 179–180 in H. andreae ; 153–177 in H. bitaeniatus ; 162–173 in H. clerkii ; 157– 169 in H. concelarus ; 159–169 in H. igneus ; 164–178 in H. ishigakiensis ; 163–166 in H. jingdongensis ; 165–170 in H. johannis ; 138–140 in H. kerinciensis ; 154–166 in H. leucomystax ; 159–176 in H. metusia ; 156–169 in H. optatus ; 160–173 in H. parallelus ; 130–142 in H. popei ; 166–183 in H. pryeri ; 160–164 in H. sangzhiensis ; 164– 175 in H. septemlineatus ; 159–171 in H. terrakarenorum ; 101 in H. viperinus ; 171–182 in H. weixiensis ; 172 in H. yanbianensis ; 160 in H. youjiangensis ).

(7) 87–111 paired subcaudals and a divided cloacal plate (versus 76–86 in H. bitaeniatus ; 115–141 in H. deschauenseei ; 115–129 in H. igneus ; 71–74 in H. jingdongensis ; 85–89 in H. johannis ; 72–93 in H. metusia ; 104–122 in H. modestus ; 70–80 in H. octolineatus ; 63–77 in H. parallelus ; 65–78 in H. petersii ; 66–88 in H. popei ; 112–130 in H. pryeri ; 81-82 in H. sangzhiensis ; 80–96 in H. septemlineatus ; 107–130 in H. terrakarenorum ; 54–89 in H. vibakari ; 59 in H. viperinus ; 74–88 in H. weixiensis and 112 in H. youjiangensis ).

(8) Presence of 21–23 teeth in the maxilla including the moderately enlarged 2 or 3 posterior ones (versus 34, last 2 enlarged ones in H. andreae ; 25–26 in H. concelarus ; 29–30, last 2 moderately enlarged in H. deschauenseei and H. igneus ; 27, last 3 enlarged posteriorly in H. lacrima ; 28–30, last 2 enlarged posteriorly in H. leucomystax ; 27–30, last 2 moderately enlarged in H. modestus ; 25, last 2 slightly enlarged {only from lectotype} in H. pryeri ; 23–25, last 2 distinctly enlarged in H. yanbianensis ; 30, the last 3 enlarged in H. youjiangensis ).

H. gilhodesi comb. nov. is somewhat similar to H. boulengeri and H. inas but can be morphologically diagnosed from the latter two species based on the combination of following characters: (1) Nape with an indistinct, discontinuous off whitish or creamish streak which breaks into whitish spots and each whitish spot are separated from each other by an interval of atleast 2–5 dorsal scales usually except for a single specimen where the spots are separated from each other by an interval of only one scale (versus nape with a distinct, continuous ochre or creamish streak which begins just behind the last supralabial scale, continues as a single lateral line beyond anterior dorsal scale rows, thereby breaking up into continuous series of large lateral spots towards midbody in H. inas ; a distinct whitish or creamish streak originating from the back of the eye extending till the nape which touches the continuous dorso-lateral reddish or reddish brown stripe in H. boulengeri ); (2) Ventrals off or creamish white with dark spots on the ventral edges (versus ventrals ivory or cream, with the outer quarter or third of each ventral dark reddish-brown in H. inas ); (3) Dorsal scales in the midbody strongly keeled (versus dorsal scales in the midbody weakly or moderately keeled in H. boulengeri ); (4) Presence of 21–23 teeth in the maxilla including the moderately enlarged posterior ones (versus 25–28, last 2 or 3 moderately enlarged in H. boulengeri ).

At last, H.gilhodesi comb. nov. is very identical to H. khasiensis but the comparisons are provided in the “Comparisons” section of H. khasiensis .

Etymology: The specific epithet “ gilhodesi ” is an eponym in honor of Referend Father Gilhodes who sent the specimens to F. Wall who described the given species. We suggest “ Kachin hills keelback” as its English common name.

Natural history and biology: H. gilhodesi comb. nov. is a terrestrial species which mainly prefers to live in close proximity with streams and other water bodies surrounded by forest type of tropical semi-evergreen to evergreen, tropical moist deciduous, tropical montane and at times even moderately disturbed hilly areas. Due to the lack of sufficient data regarding the exact site or habitat of collection, we believe that the species might be “cathemeral” and found in areas of higher elevation ranging from 551–1,500 m asl just like its sister congener. Wall (1925) mentioned that a female measuring a total length of 478 mm was egg-bound, and contained one elongated egg of 31x 6 mm. Furthermore, Wall (1926) also mentioned that 16 females were egg-bound during June, July, early August and the clutch consisted of one to four eggs indicating that breeding occurs during peak monsoon and the eggs would possibly not hatch until the autumn. Their diet primarily comprises of frogs (see Wall 1926) and possibly lizards.

Distribution: This species is currently reported from the hills of Myanmar but based on our genetic data it is very likely that H. gilhodesi comb. nov. might occur throughout Myanmar as the overall topography shows contiguous range of forests from north towards the southernmost parts of the country ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ). Hence, the literature records of H. khasiensis from Myanmar should be H. gilhodesi comb. nov..

Conservation status: Based on our current data, we consider this species Data Deficient (DD) as per the IUCN.