Archelaphe

Archelaphe is a genus of snake in the family Colubridae. The genus contains the sole species Archelaphe bella, commonly known as the Burmese rat snake, which is endemic to Asia.[1]

Archelaphe
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Archelaphe
Schulz, Böhme & Tillack, 2011
Species:
A. bella
Binomial name
Archelaphe bella
(Stanley, 1917)
Synonyms[1]
  • Coronella bella
    Stanley, 1917
  • Coluber leonardi
    Wall, 1921
  • Wallophis bella
    — F. Werner, 1929
  • Elaphe porphyracea leonardi
    — Angel & Bourret, 1933
  • Elaphe leonardi chapaensis
    Bourret, 1934
  • Elaphe leonardi
    — M.A. Smith, 1943
  • Oligodon bella
    — Ding & Zheng, 1974
  • Maculophis bella
    — Burbrink & R. Lawson, 2007
  • Elaphe bella
    — Nguyen et al., 2009
  • Archelaphe bella
    — Schulz et al., 2011

Geographic range

A. bella is found in China, India, Myanmar, and Vietnam.[1]

Description

The dorsal pattern of A. bella resembles that of the North American corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus).[1] The longest specimen of A. bella measured by M.A. Smith (1943) was a male with a total length of 81 cm (32 in) which included a tail 12.5 cm (4.9 in) long.

Reproduction

A. bella is oviparous.[1]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[1]

  • Archelaphe bella bella (Stanley, 1917)
  • Archelaphe bella chapaensis (Bourret, 1934)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Archelaphe.

References
  1. Archelaphe bella at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 28 December 2016.

Further reading
  • Bourret RN (1934). "Notes herpétologiques sur l'Indochine Française II. Sur quelques serpents des montagnes du Tonkin ". Bulletin Général de l'Instruction Publique, Hanoi 1934: 149–157. (Elaphe leonardi chapaensis, new subspecies). (in French).
  • Orlov, Nikolai L.; Ryabov, Sergey A.; Nguyen, Thien Tao; Nguyen, Truong Quang (2010). "Rediscovery and Redescription of Two Rare Snake Species: Oligodon lacroixi Angel et Bourret, 1933 and Maculophis bellus chapaensis (Bourret, 1934) [Squamata: Ophidia: Colubridae] from Fansipan Mountains, Northern Vietnam". Russian Journal of Herpetology 17 (4): 310–322.
  • Schulz, Klaus-Dieter; Böhme, Wolfgang; Tillack, Frank (2011). "Hemipenis Morphology of Coronella bella Stanley, 1917 with Comments on Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Issues of Ratsnakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae: Elaphe auct.)". Russian Journal of Herpetology 18 (4): 273–283. (Archelaphe, new genus).
  • 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. (Elaphe leonardi, pp. 156-157).
  • Stanley, Arthur (1917). "Two new species of Chinese snakes". Journal of the North-China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Shanghai 47: 83–84. (Coronella bella, new species).
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