Dryophiops rubescens (Gray, 1835)

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 148-149

Dryophiops rubescens (Gray, 1835) — Native.

Dipsus [ sic] rubescens Gray, 1835 [in 1832–1835]: pl. 84, fig. 2, caption. Holotype: BMNH 1946.1 .9.62, by original designation. Type locality: None stated/traced; later designated as “Bengal” (= Bangladesh and India; in error) by Ģnther (1858b: 146); later corrected to “Malay Peninsula?” (= Peninsular Malaysia) by Boulenger (1896: 194).

Keel-bellied Whip Snake ( Figure 17C )

Singapore records.

Dryophiops rubescens —Smedley, 1928: 47 (Changi).—Smith, 1930: 66.— de Haas, 1950: 586.—Tweedie, 1953: 82.—Tweedie, 1961: 85.—Tweedie, 1983: 85.—F.L.K. Lim & M.T.-M. Lee, 1989: 69, 116.—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 54.—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 72, 147.—K.K.P. Lim, 1993a: 3 (Pulau Ubin).—K.K.P. Lim, 1993b: 2 (Upper Peirce Reservoir Park).—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.—K.K.P. Lim, 1994b: 331.—R. Subaraj, 1995: 33, 35.— David & Vogel, 1996: 80.— Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 341.—R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 381 (Lower Peirce East Forest [LPF]).— Cox et al., 1998: 67.—Chan-ard et al., 1999: 32.— Iskandar & Colijn, 2001: 57.— K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 147.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 102, 161.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2008: 264.— Das, 2010: 278.—L.L. Grismer, 2011a: 193.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 273.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 102, 161.— Das, 2012a: 40.—W.M. Chua, 2014: 60 (Nanyang Technological University Jurong Campus).—Stuebing et al., 2014: 177.—Wallach et al., 2014: 249.—Chan-ard et al., 2015: 220.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2016: 182 (Pulau Tekong).— de Lang, 2017: 147.—Yong, 2017: 102 (Pulau Ubin).— Das, 2018: 49.— Leviton et al., 2018: 422.—O’Shea, 2018: 135.—C.J. Tan, 2019b: 51 (Pasir Laba Road).— Charlton, 2020: 163.— Holden & Poyarkov, 2021: 796.

Remarks. The discovery of D. rubescens in Singapore is unfortunately a consequence of forest-clearing in Changi on August 1927 which resulted in the finding of three individuals (Smedley 1928). There were no further records of D. rubescens until 66 years later on 8 February 1993 ( Table 2 ) when a roadkill was found on PU ( Lim 1993a). A few months later on 13 June 1993, another dead individual was found near the carpark at UPRP ( Lim 1993b), and another roadkill was found at LP (Teo & Rajathurai 1997). Afterwards, D. rubescens was reported from one found in a shoe cupboard in a hostel at NTU on 3 November 2013 (Chua 2014), two found in 2006 and two found in 2011 at PT ( Lim et al. 2016), one observed with a Draco sumatranus in its mouth at Chek Jawa, PU on 4 June 2017 (Yong 2017), and one photographed at Pasir Laba Road on 5 August 2018 (Tan 2019). The individual shown in Figure 17C was photographed on PU on 23 September 2019 (E. Goh pers. comm.).

Occurrence. Known from a few areas in CCNR and surrounding Nature Parks, PU, PT, and WC. Uncommon.

Singapore conservation status. Endangered.

Conservation priority. Highest.

IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2012].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve : ZRC . 2.6134 (05-Feb-1998); Changi : ZRC .2.3103 (1927), ZRC. 2.3102 (Aug-1927), ZRC . 2.3104 (1928), Pulau Ubin : ZRC . 2.3471 (Feb-1993), ZRC . 2.6930 (29-Oct-2009), ZRC . 2.7290 (13-Jan-2015); Upper Peirce Reservoir Road : ZRC .2.7031 (01- Jan-2014); Upper Seletar Reservoir Park : ZRC.2.6996 (01-Oct-2012); Upper Seletar Reservoir Road: ZRC.2.6802 (24-Jan-2009) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. No specimens.

Singapore localities. Changi—Lower Peirce Reservoir Forest—Nanyang Technological University Jurong Campus—Pasir Laba Road—Pulau Tekong—Pulau Ubin—Upper Peirce Reservoir Park—Upper Peirce Reservoir Road—Upper Seletar Reservoir Park—Upper Seletar Reservoir Road.

Figures

FIGURE 17. A) Dendrelaphis kopsteini, B) Dendrelaphis pictus, C) Dryophiops rubescens, D) Calamaria albiventer, E) Calamaria lovii, F) Calamaria lumbricoidea, G) Calamaria schlegeli, and H) Pseudorabdion longiceps. Photographs by: Law Ing Sind [A, E], Alex Figueroa [B, G], Emmanuel Goh [C], Evan S.H. Quah [D], and Kelvin K.P. Lim [F, H].