Trimeresurus davidi Chandramouli, Campbell & Vogel, 2020

Vogel, Gernot, Mallik, Ashok Kumar, Chandramouli, S. R., Sharma, Vivek & Ganesh, S. R., 2022, A review of records of the Trimeresurus albolabris Gray, 1842 group from the Indian subcontinent: expanded description and range extension of Trimeresurus salazar, redescription of Trimeresurus septentrionalis and rediscovery of historical specimens of Trimeresurus davidi (Reptilia: Viperidae), Zootaxa 5175 (3), pp. 343-366 : 354

Trimeresurus davidi Chandramouli, Campbell & Vogel, 2020

( Fig. 1 , 7 )

Trimeresurus carinatus —Fitzinger in Steindachner, 1867

Trimeresurus sp. — Regenass & Kramer, 1981

Specimens Examined (n=2). India: NMW 23925:1 – 2, two females collected from “Madras” (see discussion for the precise locality) .

Description and Variation. Body moderately long; SVL 398, 282 mm (1 st and 2 nd specimens respectively), with a short, tapering tail (TaL 69, 50 mm). Original tail complete and relatively short in comparison to the body (TaL/TL 14%, 15%). Head large (HL 20.83, 16.46 mm), broad (HW 14.4, 10.19 mm). Eyes large (ED 2.96, 2.34 mm), nostril located close to the snout tip than to the eye (EN 3.7, 3.3 mm). Rostral not visible from above; nasal partly fused with the first SL; SL 11, 11; third largest, pentagonal in shape; loreal pits large and triangular; IL 14, 14; the first three in contact with the anterior chin shields; dorsal body scales feebly keeled; scales in 23:23:17 rows in both specimens. VEN 169, 170, extending to the full width of the belly; anal scale 1, 1; SC 58, 60, pairs. Head scales smooth, lacking carination. Cephalic scales in a line between the supraoculars 11, 10; preocular single; postoculars 2; supraocular vertically elongate and slender. A crescent shaped elongated subocular extending nearly throughout the lower surface of the orbit. Two relatively large internasals separated by a small scale in between. In preservation, dorsum greenish grey in both the specimens lacking any specific pattern; tail slightly brownish, with a pair of white, incomplete stripes on the subcaudals legible until nearly half the length of the tail. White lateral stripes absent on the body in both the specimens; a thin white supralabial stripe visible on both sides of the head in NMW 23925:1 but not in NMW 23925:2. Ventrals pale and unpatterned in both the specimens.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map of the Indian subcontinent showing newly recorded / identified distribution records of (i). Trimeresurus salazar (black; field records: squares, specimen records: dots); (ii). T. septentrionalis (white); type localities with a dot in the middle (iii). T. davidi (encircled—corrected locality / X—incorrect locality)

FIGURE 7. Trimeresurus davidi NMW 23925:1, 2 entire views: (top right and left), tail profile (mid-left) photos: Gernot Vogel; NHMUK 1986.7.7.40–41 paratypes (mid-right and bottom left and right; photos: P.D. Campbell).