Addition of Ptyas nigromarginata (Blyth, 1854) (Squamata: Colubridae) to the Snake Fauna of Thailand with Preliminary Remarks on Its Distribution: Addition of Ptyas nigromarginata (Blyth, 1854) (Squamata: Colubridae) to the Snake Fauna of Thailand with Preliminary Remarks on Its Distribution

Abstract

There has been a long dispute about the snake genera Ptyas Fitzinger, 1843 and Zaocys Cope, 1861 (David and Vogel, 1996). At the moment we regard the genus Zaocys, with some reservation, as a synonym of Ptyas (Taylor, 1965). The gender of the generic name Ptyas is feminine, whereas Zaocys is masculine, as pointed out by David and Das (2004), so the correct nomen for the species discussed is Ptyas nigromarginata (Blyth, 1854). The genus Ptyas is a not-so-speciose snake genus, containing a total of 8 species. Most of them are currently regarded as widespread. There has never been a review of this genus and cryptic species might be expected. Species in this genus are medium to large snakes, often living in disturbed areas in close vicinity of men. They are fast, day active snakes and good climbers. All species are oviparous. Due to their size some species are exploited for the leather trade (Wang and Xie, 2009) or for consumption (Taylor, 1965; Teynié et al., 2004). Dwindling populations in Thailand and the awareness that they are useful predators of rodents have resulted in the Addition of Ptyas nigromarginata (Blyth, 1854) (Squamata: Colubridae) to the Snake Fauna of Thailand with Preliminary Remarks on Its Distribution