A newly discovered, diminutive, cave-dwelling, lowland species of the colubrid snake genus Lycodon Boie is described from a limestone cave along the Thai-Malaysian border in the state of Perlis, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. Lycodon cavernicolus sp. nov. is most closely related to L. butleri Boulenger, an endemic, upland, forest-dwelling species from Peninsular Malaysia of the fasciatus group but is separated from L. butleri and all other species of the L. fasciatus group and the closely related L. ruhstrati group by having the combination of 245 (male) and 232 (female) ventral scales; 113 (male) and 92 (female) paired, subcaudal scales; a single precloacal plate; nine or 10 supralabials; 10 or 11 infralabials; a maximum total length of 508 mm (female); a relative tail length of 0.25-0.27; an immaculate venter in juveniles and dark-brown, posterior, ventral scale margins in adults; and dorsal and caudal bands in juveniles white. The discovery of L. cavernicolus sp. nov. adds to a rapidly growing list of newly discovered reptiles from karst regions and limestone forests of Peninsular Malaysia, underscoring the fact that these areas should be studied before they are quarried as they harbor a significant portion of the Peninsular Malaysia's herpetological diversity.
The jaws of vertebrates display a striking diversity in form and function, but they typically open and close like a trapdoor rather than sliding like a saw. Here, we report unique feeding behaviour in the blunt-headed snail-eating snake, Aplopeltura boa (family Pareidae), where the snake cuts off and circumvents the indigestible part (the operculum) of its prey in the mouth using long sliding excursions of one side of the mandible, while the upper jaws and the mandible on the other side maintain a stable grasp on the prey. This behaviour, which we call 'mandibular sawing', is made possible by extraordinarily independent movements of the jaw elements and is a surprising departure from usual feeding behaviour in vertebrates.
A review of the taxonomic status of the Asian Slug Snake, Asthenodipsas vertebralis (Boulenger, 1900) based on an integrative taxonomic approach using molecular, morphological, color pattern, and ecological data indicate it is composed of three well supported monophyletic lineages: (1) Pulau Tioman and Fraser's Hill, Pahang and Bukit Larut, Perak; Peninsular Malaysia; (2) its sister lineage from Northern Sumatra; and (3) the remaining basal lineage from Peninsular Malaysia. Furthermore, we consider the high sequence divergence (6.3%-10.2%) between these lineages (especially in areas of sympatry) and discrete differences in their morphology, color pattern, and microhabitat preference as evidence they are not conspecific. As such, we resurrect the name A. tropidonotus (Lidth de Jeude, 1923) for the Sumatra populations, restrict the name A. vertebralis to the populations from Pulau Tioman, Genting Highlands, Fraser's Hill, Gunung Benom, and Bukit Larut that contain terrestrial, banded adults; and consider A. lasgalenensis sp. nov. to be restricted to the populations from Fraser's Hill, Cameron Highlands, and Bukit Larut that contain arboreal, unbanded adults.
Three species of the genus Amphiesma Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 have long been confused in the literature, with each other and with other species of the genus. Amphiesma khasiense (Boulenger, 1890) has been considered to inhabit a large geographical region, extending from north-eastern India, east to Vietnam and southern Thailand. Amphiesma boulengeri (Gressitt, 1937) has been regarded as a species endemic to south-eastern China. Amphiesma inas (Laidlaw, 1901) has been recorded from West Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia (Sumatra). A multivariate analysis of morphometric and meristic characters shows that these three species can be separated by combinations of characters in the scalation and pattern, the most obvious being the structure of the postocular streak. On the basis of our analysis and after comparison with name-bearing type specimens, Amphiesma khasiense is restricted to north-eastern India, Myanmar, western Yunnan Province of China, northern Laos and northern and western Thailand. Other populations from south-eastern China, Vietnam, other parts of Laos, Cambodia and central Thailand, which have been recorded in the literature as A. khasiense, A.johannis or Amphiesma modestum (Günther, 1875), should be referred to Amphiesma boulengeri. Amphiesma inas (Laidlaw, 1901) is a valid species endemic to mountain ranges of southern Peninsular Thailand and West Malaysia. The mention of Amphiesma inas in Sumatra is erroneous, being based on the second known specimen of Amphiesma kerinciense David & Das, 2003, which is here redescribed. A key to species of the Amphiesma khasiense group and other species sharing a greyish-brown background without conspicuous dark and pale stripes, is provided.