Platyceps rhodorachis

Braid Snake or Jan's Cliff Racer (Platyceps rhodorachis) is a species of snake found in Central Asia.

Braid Snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Platyceps
Species:
P. rhodorachis
Binomial name
Platyceps rhodorachis
(Jan, 1865)

Distribution

It is found in Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Sudan?, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Iran (Kavir desert), Afghanistan, W Pakistan, Yemen, S Turkmenistan, S Uzbekistan, NW Tajikistan, W Kyrgyzstan, S Kazakhstan

Races:

  • subniger: Eritrea to Somalia.
  • ladacensis: Iran, east to Afghanistan, north to S Turkmenistan, S Uzbekistan, W Tajikistan., Pakistan
  • kashmirensis: Pakistan (KHAN, pers. comm.); Type locality: from under pile of faggots near house of Master Muhammad Sadiq Goi Madan, Kotli, Azad Kashmir 33°30'N, 74°00'E. 1315 m

Type locality: Arabian Peninsula; Shiraz (Iran) [fide SCHÄTTI & McCARTHY 2004]

Highly variable in external morphology, particularly ventral scales.

References
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1887 A list of the reptiles and batrachians obtained near Muscat, Arabia, and presented to the British Museum by Surgeon-Major A.S.G. Jayakar. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 20: 407-408
  • Jan 1865 in: De Filippi, Viagg. Pers.: 356
  • Perry, G. 1985 A new subspecies of Coluber rhodorachis (Ophidia: Colubridae) from Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology 33:123
  • Utiger, Urs, Notker Helfenberger, Beat Schätti, Catherine Schmidt, Markus Ruf and Vincent Ziswiler 2002 Molecular systematics and phylogeny of Old World and New World ratsnakes, Elaphe Auct., and related genera (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae). Russ. J. Herpetol. 9 (2): 105–124.


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