Lycodon mackinnoni

Lycodon mackinnoni/Himalayan wolf snake was considered as a species occuring in the Himalayan according to recent study[2] Lycodon mackinnoni is now synonymised with Lycodon bicolor,Bicoloured wolf snake.

Lycodon bicolor
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Lycodon
Species:
L. bicolor
Binomial name
Lycodon bicolor
Contia bicolor-NIKOLSKY 1903
Synonyms[1]
  • Lycodon mackinnoni
    Wall, 1906
  • Ophites mackinnoni
    — Wall, 1923
  • Lycodon mackinnoni
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Lycodon bicolor"
    — Amarasinghe et. al, 2023

According to recent studies[2] it is now considered as a synonym of newly described species Lycodon bicolor.

Etymology

The specific name, mackinnoni, is in honor of naturalist Philip W. Mackinnon, who collected the type specimen "in his own garden at 6,100 ft" (1,900 m) from Mussoorie, India.[3][4]

Geographic range

Lycodon bicolor is widely distributed from himalayan region of North India towards north through Nepal,Pakistan,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and likely from North-eastern iran, Uzbekistan,Kazakhstan.

Description

L. mackinnoni is a small snake. Adults may attain a total length of 36.5 cm (14.4 in), which includes a tail 6.5 cm (2.6 in) long. Dorsally, it is brown, with a network of white lines. Ventrally, it is uniformly white, or white with brown-edged ventrals. The dorsal scales are smooth, and are arranged in 17 rows at midbody. The anal plate is divided.[5]

Reproduction

L. mackinnoni is oviparous.[1]

Footnotes
  1. Species Lycodon mackinnoni at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
  2. Amarasinghe, Amarasinghe A. Thasun; Masroor, Rafaqat; Lalremsanga, Hmar T.; Weerakkody, Sanjaya; Ananjeva, Natalia B.; Campbell, Patrick D.; Kennedy‐Gold, Stevie R.; Bandara, Sanjaya K.; Bragin, Andrey M.; Gayan, Atthanagoda K. A.; Sharma, Vivek R.; Sayyed, Amit; Biakzuala, Lal; Kanishka, Andradige S.; Ganesh, Sumaithangi R. (2023-03-06). "Integrative approach resolves the systematics of barred wolf snakes in the Lycodon striatus complex (Reptilia, Colubridae)". Zoologica Scripta: zsc.12587. doi:10.1111/zsc.12587. ISSN 0300-3256.
  3. Wall (1906).
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Lycodon mackinnoni, p. 165).
  5. Smith MA (1943).

Further reading
  • Lanza B (1999). "A new species of Lycodon from the Philippines, with a key to the genus (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae)". Tropical Zoology 12: 89–104.
  • Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Lycodon mackinnoni, p. 263).
  • Wall F (1906). "A New Himalayan Snake (Lycodon mackinnoni )". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 17: 29–30.
  • Wall F (1923). "A Hand-list of the Snakes of the Indian Empire. Part 2". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 29 (3): 598–632. (Ophites mackinnoni, p. 614).


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