Platyceps rhodorachis (Jan in de Filippi, 1865)

Jablonski, Daniel, Regan, John M., Holzheuser, Chace, Farooqi, Javeed, Basit, Abdul & Masroor, Rafaqat, 2019, Additional data to the herpetofauna of Afghanistan, Herpetozoa 32, pp. 177-193 : 177

Platyceps rhodorachis (Jan in de Filippi, 1865)

Distribution in Afghanistan.

This snake has a scattered distribution in the country, mostly around the Hindu Kush range. It is presented from the provinces Balkh, Ghazni, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kunduz, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Wardak and Zabul ( Wagner et al. 2016). Since records " 10 km west of Jawand [ “Kala-iChambar”] (SMF 67907) " and "east of Kandahar (CAS 115970)" are not georeferenced in Wagner et al. (2016; p. 511), we did not include them in the list of georeferenced datasets for this species.

Our records.

1 - Camp Mike Spann Chapel, Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh (29 May 2009 & 8 October 2010), two subadult individuals ( Fig. 9C ) in the area of the camp; 2 - Camp Dubs - Kabul, Kabul (17 July 2011), one subadult individual observed in the rocky habitat in the area of the camp; 3 - Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar (28 April 2009), two subadult individuals ( Fig. 9B ) observed in the desert habitat with bushes near the runway.

Remarks.

All our data correspond with previous records of the species from close localities and particular provinces. Therefore, we did not map these records. This species is described correctly in Regan (2017) on p. 40 but incorrectly on p. 46 (both photos; Camp Dubs - Kabul, Kabul) as " Hemorrhios ravergieri " (this version uses the wrong genus name).

Figures

Figure 9. Observed species of Colubridae and Viperidae families from Afghanistan: A - adult individual of Hemorrhois ravergieri from Jurm, Badakhshan (photo by Glyn Morris); B - subadult individual of Platyceps rhodorachis from Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar; C - subadult individual of P. rhodorachis (striped phenotype) from Camp Mike Spann Chapel, Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh; D - adult individual of Ptyas mucosa from Camp Dubs - Kabul, Kabul; E - subadult individual of Spalerosophis diadema from Camp Dubs - Kabul, Kabul; F - subadult individual of S. diadema from Spin Boldak, Kandahar (photo by Ron Savage); G, H - subadult and adult individual of Echis carinatus from Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar.