Platyceps rhodorachis (Jan in de Filippi, 1865:356)

Wagner, Philipp, Bauer, Aaron M., Leviton, Alan E., Wilms, Thomas M. & Böhme, Wolfgang, 2016, A Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Afghanistan *, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63 (13), pp. 457-565 : 510-511

Platyceps rhodorachis (Jan in de Filippi, 1865:356)

1865 Zamenis rhodorachis Jan, Prime line d’una fauna della Persia occidentale. Rettili. Pages 352–357 In De Filippi, F., Note di un Viaggio in Persia nel 1862. G. Daelli and C. Editori, Milan, Italy.

LECTOTYPE.— MSNG 30312 from “ Persia, Schiraz”. For further information concerning the type material we refer to Schätti et al. (2014).

LOCALITIES.— Ag Chah ( SNM 55–57 ) ; Bisut area [= Behsud] ( MMB 28501–02 ) ; 35 mi downstream from Girishk, Dasht-i-Margo Area, Chah-i-Angir ( CAS 84634–36 ) ; Dashti Nawar [Plain] ( ZFMK 41340 ) ; Hadda ( MZLU L958 /3225–26) ; Herat town ( ZFMK 92802 , USNM 166773 ) ; 30 km SW of Jalalabad ( CAS 120718 ) ; 40 km W of Jalalabad ( CAS 120492 ) ; 10 km west of Jawand [“Kala-iChambar”] ( SMF 67907 ) ; 15 km southwest of Kabul ( CAS 92323 ) ; Kabul ( ZFMK 8559 , 8651 , 8678 ; MMGU 2729a–b, NMW 34992 ) ; Kabul Carteseh ( CAS 147425 ) ; Kabul Sharinau ( CAS 147426 ) ; 15 km SW of Kabul on rd to Kandahar ( CAS 92323 ) ; east of Kandahar ( CAS 115970 ) ; Kandahar ( CAS 115970 , FMNH 161075 , FMNH 171788 , MZLU L960 /3035–36, ZFMK 8645 ) ; Kunduz ( ZFMK 84787 , 95020 ; ZSM 22 .1954.1–2) ; Lashkargah, Daschtimargo ( CAS 147427 ) ; Masgid-i-ciovi [= Chobi ] ( MZUF 23939–42 ) ; Mazar-i-Sharif ( ZFMK 86744 ) ; 5–10 mi ENE of Nimla and about 10 mi SW Balabagh, on old Kabul-Jalalabad rd [34°19′–21′N, 70°10′–15′E] ( CAS 96250 ) ; Paghman vic. [34°36′N, 68°56′E] ( CAS 115971 formerly FMNH 161185 ) ; Pesh Valley [Nuristan Prov.] ( ZFMK 8643–44 ) ; Qualat ( MZLU L958 /3227) ; Such ( BMNH 1968 .1303) [see pl. 12, fig. 6 for distribution] .

REMARKS.— Jan (1857) first mentioned the name rhodorachis but its use was as a nomen nudum as no characters were provided to separate it from other known species. However, just a few years later he gave a valid description (Jan in de Filippi 1865). The taxonomic status of this species is complex and still needs to be resolved. Král (1969) recognized two subspecies, P. r. rhodorhachis [sic] (SNM 57) and P. r. ladacensis (SNM 55–56) (both from Ag Chah) in Afghanistan. But P. r. ladacensis (Anderson, 1871) , described from Ladakh a few years after the description of the nominate form, was treated as a synonym of P. rhodorhachis [sic] by Boulenger (1893). Later it was again recognized as subspecies (e.g., Terent’ev and Chernov 1949, Szczerbak 2003). According to Szczerbak (2003), the nominate subspecies occupies only southern Turkmenistan, whereas P. r. ladacensis occurs throughout rest of the distribution range. In as much as both taxa were recognized in southern Turkmenistan, Shammakov (1989) suggested they be accorded full species status. Recently, referring only to the count of ventral scales given in the first description, Perry (2012) also recognized P. ladacensis as a full species, ranging from Israel to India. Given the obvious uncertainities in recognizing species-level taxa within this species complex, we believe that a full, integrative revision is definitely needed. A first step was taken in the morphological review by Schätti et al. (2014) who recognized several potential hybrids between P. rhodorhachis [sic] and P. k. karelini (see herein the species account of the latter species).

ZFMK 8644 has bats ( Nyctalus leisleri ) in its stomach.