identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
6920FA377ADE5344ADB2D3E17C4C1713.text	6920FA377ADE5344ADB2D3E17C4C1713.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Plagiopholis yangi Liu & Hou & Rao 2026	<div><p>Plagiopholis yangi sp. nov.</p><p>Figs 2, 3, 4; Table 3</p><p>Type material.</p><p>Holotype. KIZ 2025059, adult male, collected on 6 May 2025 by Local villagers from <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=104.803055&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=23.223333" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 104.803055/lat 23.223333)">Xiajinchang Township</a>, Malipo County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (23°13'24"N, 104°48'11"E; 1,450 m a. s. l.).</p><p>Diagnosis.</p><p>Plagiopholis yangi sp. nov. differs from all its congeners by a combination of the following characteristics (Table 4): anterior dorsal scales smooth, posterior dorsal scales feebly keeled; loreal present; supralabials six; temporals 2 + 2; ventral scales 116 in a single male; subcaudal scales 32 in a single male, some paired and some unpaired; nuchal blotch inverted “ V ” shaped; ventral surface yellowish white with many small dark spots.</p><p>Plagiopholis yangi sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. acuta by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent), more subcaudals (32 vs 24–30), an inverted “ V ” shaped nuchal blotch (vs pentagonal or sub-annular shaped), and feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth); from P. blakewayi by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent, rarely present), six supralabials (vs five, rarely six), 2 + 2 temporals (vs 0 + 1 or 1 + 1), and an inverted “ V ” shaped nuchal blotch (vs arrow-shaped, irregular, or absent); from P. delacouri by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent), 2 + 2 temporals (vs 1 + 2), more subcaudals (32 vs 20–28), and some unpaired subcaudals (vs all subcaudals paired); from P. maculosa by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent), more ventrals (116 vs 104), more subcaudals (32 vs 24), some unpaired subcaudals (vs all subcaudals paired), feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth), and the absence of large brown blotches on ventral neck (vs present); from P. nuchalis by 2 + 2 temporals (vs 1 + 2), fewer ventrals (116 vs 122–142), more subcaudals (32 vs 23–30), and the absence of large black blotches on venter (vs present); from P. pluvialis by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent, rarely present), more ventrals in males (116 vs 102–110), and feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth); from P. styani by the presence of loreal (vs loreal absent, rarely present), more subcaudals (32 vs 23–30), an inverted “ V ” shaped nuchal blotch (vs pentagonal, sub-annular or sagittate shaped), and feebly keeled posterior dorsals (vs all dorsals smooth).</p><p>Etymology.</p><p>The specific epithet is in commemoration of the late renowned Chinese herpetological taxonomist Prof. Dr. Datong Yang. We suggest “Yang’s Mountain Snake” as the common English name and “杨氏颈斑蛇” as the common Chinese name.</p><p>Description of holotype.</p><p>Adult male; body stubby, SVL 313 mm, tail short, TaL 56 mm, TaL / TL 0.15; head small, HL 16.3 mm, narrow, HW / HL 0.59, indistinct from neck; snout narrow, tip blunt; eye moderate, ED 2.6 mm, ED / HL 0.16, pupil round; rostral large, rectangular, wider than high, visible from above; internasals wider than long; prefrontals polygonal; frontal shield shaped, longer than wide; supraocular elongated triangular; parietals large, gradually narrower posteriorly, median suture longer than length of frontal; nostril located in middle of nasal, nasal divided into two scales; loreal small, one on each side; preocular large, one on each side; postoculars two on each side; six supralabials on each side, first in contact with nasal, second in contact with loreal, third and fourth entering orbit; two anterior temporals and two posterior temporals on each side; mental small, rectangular, wider than long; two pairs of chin shields, anterior pairs longer than posterior; six infralabials on each side, first pair not contacting each other, first to third in contact with anterior pair of chin shields, third and fourth in contact with posterior chin shields; dorsal scales in 15 rows throughout, anterior dorsals smooth, posterior dorsals feebly keeled; ventral scales 116, excluding two preventrals; subcaudal scales 32, first, third, and fifth to tenth single, others paired; precloacal plate undivided.</p><p>Coloration of holotype in life.</p><p>Dorsal surface yellowish brown, a large black inverted “ V ” shaped nuchal blotch on neck, many indistinct irregular black stripes on dorsum; lateral surface of head light brown, upper and lower lips white with vertical black stripes; ventral surface of head white, ventral surface of body yellowish white with many small brown spots, ventral surface of tail light yellow with some small light brown spots.</p><p>Distribution.</p><p>Plagiopholis yangi sp. nov. is currently known to be only distributed in Malipo County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (Fig. 5). It is speculated that it may also be distributed in nearby Ha Giang Province of northern Vietnam.</p><p>Ecology notes.</p><p>The specimen of the new species was discovered dead on a road. However, no signs of injury were visible, and the cause of its death is unknown. The specimen was not decomposed or dried out when it was found, suggesting that it had just died. There are evergreen broad-leaved forests on sides of the road and farmlands nearby. Other snakes distributed in the same area include Achalinus zugorum Miller, Davis, Luong, Do, Pham, Ziegler, Lee, De Queiroz, Reynolds &amp; Nguyen, 2020, Lycodon flavozonatus (Pope, 1928), Ovophis makazayazaya (Takahashi, 1922), Ptyas major (Günther, 1858), and Trimeresurus stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925 .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/6920FA377ADE5344ADB2D3E17C4C1713	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Liu, Shuo;Hou, Mian;Rao, Dingqi	Liu, Shuo, Hou, Mian, Rao, Dingqi (2026): A new species of Plagiopholis Boulenger, 1893 (Serpentes, Pseudoxenodontinae) from southeastern Yunnan, China. Evolutionary Systematics 10 (1): 85-92, DOI: 10.3897/evolsyst.10.188735
