Revealing two centuries of confusion: new insights on nomenclature and systematic position of Argyrogena fasciolata (Shaw, 1802) (auctt.), with description of a new species from India (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae)

Abstract

Coluber fasciolatus Shaw, 1802 (today Argyrogena fasciolata auctt.) is the name used for a widespread terrestrial colubrid snake species inhabiting subtropical and tropical dry deciduous/thorn forests of South Asia from Pakistan to India, with unconfirmed records of distribution in Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar and a single doubtful record from the northern tip of Sri Lanka. During the past 200 years, A. fasciolata (common name Banded racer) has been placed in different genera, i.e. Tyria Fitzinger, 1826, Zamenis Wagler, 1830, Coryphodon Duméril, Bibron and Duméril, 1854, and Coluber Linnaeus, 1758 where it primarly remained until the mid 1960s and exceptionally until the year 2011. Three subsequently introduced names, viz. Coluber hebe Daudin, 1803, Coluber curvirostris Cantor, 1839, and Argyrogena rostrata Werner, 1924 were synonymized with C. fasciolatus shortly after its description. Based on a combination of characters including body pattern, external morphology and osteological differences Wilson (1967) reviewed the taxon fasciolatus Shaw and considered it as generically distinguishable, removed it from the then heterogeneous and undefined collective genus Coluber and assigned it to the resurrected genus Argyrogena Werner, 1924. Shaw’s (1802) description of C. fasciolatus was based exclusively on the information of Russell’s “Nooni Paragoodoo” published in 1796 in his “Account of Indian Serpents, collected on the coast of Coromandel; […]”. Our analysis of the original data and the depicted type specimen in Russell (1796) revealed that the name fasciolata was initially established for a species distinct from that currently known as the “Banded racer”, and that Russell’s data have been used simultaneously but unwittingly, for more than 150 years, as original source for two valid species from two different genera. Specimens of Banded racer found in the southeastern part of peninsular India are morphologically and genetically distinct from populations of the rest of the distribution area. These populations from central and southern Tamil Nadu state represent a different species, consequently described as a new species herein. Furthermore, examination of specimens of the Banded racer from different populations across its entire range, including the type specimen of the genus Argyrogena (A. rostrata Werner), reveals a similarity in morphology with the genus Platyceps Blyth, 1860. This was further supported by molecular data which demonstrates that the genus Argyrogena is nested within Platyceps.

Reptilian assemblages in the wetlands of Amboli hill complex, northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India during the monsoon season

“…The present study area in the Ajara range is just 30 airline km away from Amboli, site of several previous herpetological expeditions that reported many new lizards and snakes, including Melanophidium khairei, Rhabdops aquaticus, Dendrelaphis girii, Calliophis castoe, Hemidactylus varadgirii and several new species of Cnemaspis (Vogel & van Rooijen 2011;Smith et al 2012;Gower et al 2016;Giri et al 2017;Sayyed et al 2018;Chaitanya et al 2019;Deepak et al 2021). However, these species could not be recorded during the present study, likely due to the easterly position of the Ajara range compared to Amboli, which is situated well within the Western Ghats.…”

“…Reptiles were photographed using a DSLR camera (Canon 600D); identification characters were based on consultation of standard literature (Daniel 2002;Das 2008;Whitaker & Captain 2008). For nomenclature, we followed Khandekar et al ( 2021), effecting other nomenclatural updates from recent publications (Ganesh et al 2020(Ganesh et al , 2021Mallik et al 2020Mallik et al , 2021Deepak et al 2021;Gowande et al 2021). Jaccard's similarity index of species richness between wetlands was calculated using PAST software (Hammer et al 2001).…”

Presumptive nest excavation by a Banded Racer (Platyceps plinii)

“…Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) have been reported to exhibit similar excavation and nesting behavior in the New Jersey Pine Barrens Zappalorti 1991, 1992) and the North Carolina Sandhills (Beane and Pusser 2012) in the United States; as have Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes (Heterodon platirhinos) in Canada (Cunnington and Cebek 2005). Characteristics shared by Banded Racers and these two species include inhabiting somewhat xeric and sandy habitats and possession of a pronounced rostral scale (Edgren 1955;Knight 1986;Deepak et al 2021) that can be utilized for soil excavation.…”

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T he Banded Racer, Platyceps plinii (Merrem 1820), is a non-venomous colubrid that inhabits dry deciduous and tropical thorn forests in southern Asia (Whitaker and Captain 2004;Deepak et al 2021). Mating occurs from late winter to mid-monsoon and oviposition occurs from January to September (Deepak et al 2021) with clutch sizes of 2-23 eggs (Vyas 1987;Patel et al 2019).

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Annotated checklist of the snakes of Bengaluru Urban District, Karnataka, India with notes on their natural history, distribution, and population trends over the last 150 years

“…By far, it is the most frequently encountered Wolf Snake species in Bengaluru, although it is often misidentified as L. aulicus. L. fasciolatus was formerly referred to as L. anamallensis, but was recently reclassified (Deepak et al, 2021). Lycodon flavicollis Mukherjee and Bhupathy, 2007 -Yellow-collared Wolf Snake (Fig.…”