安徽庐江发现东亚腹链蛇

2021年8月,在安徽省合肥市庐江县牛王寨采集到东亚腹链蛇属(Hebius)蛇类标本1号。经形态比较发现,该蛇明显不同于大别山地区已有的东亚腹链蛇属物种——棕黑腹链蛇(H. sauteri)和绣链腹链蛇(H. craspedogaster)。分子系统学分析显示,该标本与东亚腹链蛇(H. vibakari)遗传关系最近,且形态上符合东亚腹链蛇特征,提示该标本应为东亚腹链蛇。东亚腹链蛇是安徽省和大别山地区爬行动物分布新记录种,这也是该物种在中国东北地区之外首次被报道。该分布新记录扩大了对东亚腹链蛇的分布范围的认知,对东亚腹链蛇的种群分化和生物地理学研究具有重要意义。

Far-East Keelback Hebius vibakari Found in Lujiang County, Anhui

In August 2021, we collected one specimen of the genus Hebius (Fig. 1 showing the morphological characteristics of this snake) in the Dabie Mountains (Niuwang Mountain, Lujiang County, Hefei City, Anhui Province, China). Morphological comparison showed that the snake was obviously different from the recorded genus Hebius in the Dabie Mountains (H. sauteri and H. craspedogaster). Based on molecular phylogenetic analysis, it was shown that the specimen was clustered with H. vibakari and morphologically, it conforms to the characteristics of H. vibakari (Fig. 2). It suggests that the specimen should be H. vibakari. This is a new recorded species of H. vibakari distribution in the Dabie Mountains and Anhui Province, and this is the first time of this species reported outside of northeastern China. This new record expands the distribution range of H. vibakari, and is of great significance for studying the population evolution and biogeography of this species.