A new species of the genus Achalinus (Squamata: Xenodermidae) from Nanning, Guangxi, China.

We describe a new species of the genus Achalinus Peters, 1869 from Daming Mountain, Shanglin County, Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, based on a single adult male specimen. It can be distinguished from all the other species in Achalinus by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) a bright yellow collar around the neck, extending forward to the ventral of the head; (2) tail length comparatively long, TaL/Tol ratio 0.25; (3) DSR 23-23-23, moderately keeled; (4) VS 3+162; (5) SC 74, unpaired; (6) cloacal plate entire; (7) SPL 6, the fourth and fifth in contact with the eye; (8) IFL 6, the first three touching the first pair of chin shields; (9) a single loreal; (10) length of suture between internasal significantly longer than that between prefrontal, LSBI/LSBP ratio 1.34; (11) two pairs of chin shields; (12) longitudinal vertebral line absent. In addition, the uncorrected p-distances between the new species and other known congeners ranged from 6.3% to 25.4% for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1). With the addition of the new species the total number of described Achalinus species is increased to 23 of which 17 are found in China.

A new species of the Genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Baise, Guangxi, China.

A new species of the genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 is described from Youjiang District, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, based on a single adult female specimen. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scale rows 19-17-17, feebly keeled except the outermost row; (2) tail length comparatively long, TAL/TL ratio 0.30 in females; (3) ventrals 160 (+ 3 preventrals); (4) subcaudals 112; (5) supralabials 9, the fourth to sixth in contact with the eye; (6) infralabials 10, the first 5 touching the first pair of chin shields; (7) preocular 1; (8) postoculars 2; (9) temporals 4, arranged in three rows (1+1+2); (10) maxillary teeth 30, the last 3 enlarged, without diastem; (11) postocular streak presence; (12) background color of dorsal brownish black, a conspicuous, uniform, continuous beige stripe extending from behind the eye to the end of the tail; (13) anterior venter creamish-yellow, gradually fades to the rear, with irregular black blotches in the middle and outer quarter of ventrals, the posterior part almost completely black. The discovery of the new species increases the number of species in the genus Hebius to 51.

A new species of the genus Achalinus (Squamata: Xenodermidae) from Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, China.

A new species of odd-scaled snake in the genus Achalinus is described from Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, China, based on seven female specimens. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsum iridescent and uniformly dark brown in preservative, longitudinal vertebral line absent; (2) light brown beneath; (3) dotted black streak in the middle of the subcaudals absent; (4) tail length relatively short, TaL/ToL 12-16%, in females; (5) fewer subcaudals, 41-46 in females; (6) dorsal scales 23 rows throughout, strongly keeled; the outer-most rows on both sides are also keeled and slightly enlarged; (7) one loreal; (8) internasal not fused to prefrontal; (9) suture between internasals is similar in size when compared to the suture between prefrontals; (10) preocular and postocular absent; (11) 6 supralabials; (12) 5 infralabials, the first 3 (rarely 2) touching the first pair of chin shields; (13) 3 pairs of chin shields. A phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1), showed that this new species forms a monophyletic group with strong support. In addition, the uncorrected p-distances between the new species and other known congeners ranged from 3.4% to 13.0%. The recognition of the new species increases the number of described Achalinus species to 21.

A new species of the Genus Pelodiscus Fitzinger, 1835 (Testudines: Trionychidae) from Huangshan, Anhui, China.

A new species of the soft-shelled turtle genus Pelodiscus is described based on seven specimens from Huangshan, southern Anhui Province, China. The new species, Pelodiscus huangshanensis sp. nov., is distinguished from other species in the genus Pelodiscus by the following characteristics: (1) Small size (maximum carapace length of 101.16 mm and maximum body length of 190 mm); (2) keel high; (3) tiny yellowish-white spots on the throat; (4) no black pinstripes around the eyes; (5) white longitudinal bands on both sides of the neck in juveniles, absent in adults; (6) plastron yellowish-white, and only a dark patch on each side of the armpit; (7) many tubercles on the dorsal surface, but indistinct in the center; and (8) entoplastron ⌒ shaped. The phylogenetic relationships of the species in Pelodiscus were reconstructed using the sequences of cytochrome b (cyt b) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) genes. The new species formed a monophyletic clade with strong support. The uncorrected pairwise distances between the new species and other representatives of Pelodiscus ranged from 5.4% to 9.2% for cyt b and 4.1% to 7.6% for ND4. The new species brings the number of species of the genus Pelodiscus to six; five species are distributed in China, with three species endemic to China.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Lycodon ruhstrati (Serpentes: Colubridae).

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Lycodon ruhstrati was determined by shotgun sequencing. The total genome size is 17,168 bp, and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosome RNA genes and 2 control regions (D-loops). Most of the genes of L. ruhstrati were distributed on the H-strand, except for the ND6 subunit gene and eight tRNA genes which were encoded on the L-strand. The phylogenetic tree of L. ruhstrati and 12 other closely related species was reconstructed. The mitogenome sequence presented here will be useful to study the evolutionary relationships and genetic diversity of L. ruhstrati.

The complete mitochondrial genomes of Laudakia Papenfussi (Iguania; Agamidae).

The Papenfuss' Rock Agama Laudakia papenfussi is an endemic species in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of this species was determined by shotgun sequencing. The total length of mitogenome is 17,005 bp and its base composition was 37.3% for A, 23.9% for T, 12.5% for G, and 26.3% for C, which contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosome RNA genes, and 2 control regions. The phylogenetic tree of L. papenfussi and 15 other related species was reconstructed using maximum likelihood (ML) methods. The mitogenome sequence presented here will be useful to understand the phylogenetic relationships of Laudakia.