Ptyas mucosa nigriceps

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 : 511-512

Ptyas mucosa nigriceps Terent’ev and Chernov, 1949:246

1949 Ptyas mucosus nigriceps Terent’ev and Chernov, Opredelitel Presmykatushchikhsya i Zemnovodnykh. [Encyclopedia of reptiles and amphibians, in Russian]. Sovetskaya Nauka, Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [now Russia]. 340 pp.

SYNTYPE.— ZISP 15698 , from “Takhta-Bazar st., left bank of Murgab” [= Turkmenistan, Mary Province; translated from Russian ] .

LOCALITIES.— Baraki Barak , 10 km W of [Logar Prov.] ( USNM 194606 ) ; Darulman , vic. of Kabul [Kabul prov., 1800 m] ( ZFMK 8639 ) ; btw. Gornails and Bokan , NE of Bala Morhab ( MNHN 1948 .176); Herat area ( FMNH 161113 ) ; Kabul ( CAS 120544 ) ; 40 km SW of Kabul on rd to Kandahar, in Kabul River ( CAS 92324 ) ; Kamdesh ( FMNH 161135 ) ; Kamu (13325–26); Kandahar [31°36′N, 65°47′E] ( CAS 115973 , FMNH 161272–73 ) ; Maimana [35°54′N, 64°43′E] ( CAS 115974 ) ; Obeh ( ZMUC R-60102); ca. 4 km above Paghman (7950 ft.) ( MVZ 237484 ) [see pl. 12, fig. 7 for distribution].

REMARKS.— The status of this subspecies is questionable. Terent’ev and Chernov (1949) indicat- ed that they were describing a new subspecies but the diagnosis, “Adult specimens from Turkmenistan are almost black, shiny, with yolk yellow abdomen, and young are light gray, with some scales being partly or entirely white, and with yellow abdomen”, seems somewhat abbreviated. Moreover, no name-bearing type is specifically mentioned, and, therefore, all specimens examined by the authors from Turkmenistan have to be treated as syntypes. However, some subsequent authors have accepted the taxon (e.g., Szczerbak 2003 as P. m. nigricens Chernov, 1949 [sic]).