Lycodon futsingensis (Pope, 1928)

Luu, Vinh Quang, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Calame, Thomas, Hoang, Tuoi Thi, Southichack, Sisomphone, Bonkowski, Michael & Ziegler, Thomas, 2013, New country records of reptiles from Laos, Biodiversity Data Journal 1, pp. 1015-1015 : 1015

Lycodon futsingensis (Pope, 1928)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: V. Q. Luu; individualCount: 1; sex: female; Location: country: Laos; stateProvince: Khammouane; verbatimLocality: Hin Nam No National Protected Area; verbatimElevation: 581 m; verbatimLatitude: 17°17.499'N; verbatimLongitude: 106°10.606'E; Event: eventDate: 2013-05-14; Record Level: institutionCode: VFU

Description

(Fig. 5)

Specimen examined (n = 1). VFU A.2013.4, adult female, collected by V. Q. Luu on 14 May 2013 from Noong Ma Commune, Boualapha District, Khammouane Province (17°17.499'N, 106°10.606'E, elevation 581 m a.s.l.), within Hin Nam No NPA.

Morphological characters. Total length (TL) 760 mm (SVL 603mm, TaL 157 mm); body subcylindrical; head moderately distinguished from neck, rather flattenned; snout elongate, projecting anteriorly beyond lower jaw; pupil vertically elliptic; maxillary teeth 12/12; rostral distinctly broader than high, partly visible from above; internasals as wide as long, not in contact with loreal; prefrontal less than half length of frontal; frontal hexagonal; parietals longer than wide; nasal paired; loreal 1/1, not in contact with orbit; supralabials 8/8, third to fifth touching the eye, seventh largest; infralabials 9/9, first to fifth bordering chin shields; preocular 1/1; postoculars 2/2, bodering anterior temporals; anterior temporals 2/2, posterior temporals 2/2; dorsal scale rows 17-17-15, smooth; ventrals 209; subcaudals 79, paired; cloacal undivided. Coloration in preservative: Dorsal surface greyish-black with 19-21 grey rings on body and 9 cross-bands on tail; belly cream, anterior part uniform, speckled posteriorly, under tail dark (determination after Vogel et al. 2009, Vogel and David 2010).

Ecology

The adult female was collected at ca. 21:30 while moving on the forest floor, near a slow running stream. The surrounding habitat was karst forest at elevation of 581 m a.s.l.

Distribution

Lycodon futsingensis has been reported from southern China and northern Vietnam ( Vogel et al. 2009). This is a new record of the species from Laos and it is approximately about 20 km far from the nearest record of this species in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam.