Thursday, July 18, 2013

[Herpetology • 2013] Azemiops kharini | White-head Burmese Viper • On the Taxonomy and the Distribution of Snakes of the Genus Azemiops Boulenger, 1888 (Ophidia: Viperidae: Azemiopinae): Description of a New Species from northeast Vietnam and southeast China


Azemiops kharini Orlov, Ryabov & Nguyen 2013
White-head Burmese Viper
via John C. Murphy http://squamates.blogspot.com

Abstract
Description of a new species of Burmese vipers of genus Azemiops Boulenger, 1888 (Reptilia: Ophidia: Viperidae: Azemiopinae) from northeast Vietnam and southeast China is given. It leads to changing the status of the monotypic genus Azemiops. Critical analysis of literature for all period of study and analysis of distribution of two species of Azemiops genus as well as natural history data are discussed.

Azemiops sp. nov.,
Nguyen Binh District, Cao Bang Province, Vietnam,1300 m a.s.l.
Photo by Nikolai L. Orlov.

 White-head Burmese Viper Azemiops kharini has a broader distribution than the Black-head Fea’s Viper Azemiops feae

Distribution: the east of the Red River; eastern China (eastern Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, eastern Sichuan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Shaanxi provinces) and it is present in northern Indochina (northeastern Vietnam)


Nikolai L. Orlov, Sergei A. Ryabov, Tao Thien Nguyen. 2013. On the Taxonomy and the Distribution of Snakes of the Genus Azemiops Boulenger, 1888: Description of a New Species. Russian Journal of Herpetology. 20 (2): 110-128.