A Revision of Some Indian Tree Snakes, Dendrelaphis

Dendrelaphis andamanensis
Dendrelaphs pictus
Genot Vogel and Johan van Rooijen investigated the taxonomic status of the Indian forms of the Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin, 1789) group using a multivariate analyses of morphological data taken from 176 museum specimens and two living specimens. They describe a geographically isolated, new species  from the Western Ghats, southwest India, Dendrelaphis ashoki  and found the subspecies Dendrelaphis pictus andamanensis (Anderson, 1871), to be an endemic species from the Andaman Islands. The populations of  D. pictus from Indochina and northeast India, are shown to be comprised of two morphologically distinct forms. These forms are distributed parapatrically with a transition near the northern and northwestern borders of Indochina. The two forms are considered to represent distinct evolutionary lineages. The name Dendrelaphis proarchos (Wall, 1909) is revalidated to represent the northwestern form while the southeastern form is referred to as D. pictus (Gmelin, 1789).

Citation
Vogel, G and J. van Rooijen. 2011. Contributions to a Review of the Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin, 1789) Complex (Serpentes: Colubridae)—3. The Indian Forms, with the Description of a New Species from the Western Ghats. Journal of Herpetology 45:100-110.



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