Xylophis Beddome, 1878

Narayanan, Surya, Das, Sandeep, Ghosh, Avrajjal, Palot, Muhamed Jafer, Umesh, P., Gower, David J. & Deepak, V., 2025, Hidden in the Sky Islands: A new species of Xylophis Beddome, 1878 (Serpentes: Pareidae: Xylophiinae) from montane habitats of Wayanad in the Western Ghats of India, Zootaxa 5666 (4), pp. 509-528 : 521

Revised identification key to the species in the genus Xylophis Beddome, 1878

Ventral and subcaudal counts for X. mosaicus exclude data for two specimens recorded as males that we here consider unlikely and in need of reassessment (see Fig. 4 ).

1 Dorsal scales in 13 rows at midbody; supraocular notably larger than postocular; six or more infralabials................ 2

– Dorsal scales in 15 rows at midbody; supraocular and postocular shields subequal in size; five infralabials.............. 4

2 First ventral separates the posterior genials, occurs in Nilgiri Hills................................................................................... X. perroteti (including its putative junior subjective synonym X. microcephalum )

– Posterior genials in midline contact....................................................................... 3

3 Occurs in Anamalai Hills; generally having more ventrals and fewer subcaudals: 128–135 ventrals and 29–34 subcaudals in males; 138–142 ventrals and 16–22 subcaudals in females............................................ X. mosaicus

– Occurs in western Wayanad region; generally having fewer ventrals and more subcaudals: 126–130 ventrals and 32–38 subcaudals in males; 131 ventrals and 23–24 subcaudals in only known female............... X. chenkaruppan sp. nov.

4 Ventrals 120–135; prefrontals much longer than internasals; second infralabial notably longer than first, the two together being about as long as the third infralabial....... X. stenorhynchus (including its putative junior subjective synonym X. indicus )

– Ventrals 106–125; prefrontals and internasals subequal in midline length; second infralabial only marginally longer than first, the two together being shorter than the third infralabial....................................................... 5

5 Ventrals 102–113; pale collar restricted to dorsum; hemipenis body with large flounces..................... X. captaini

– Ventrals 117–125; pale collar extends onto venter; hemipenis body without flounces........................ X. deepaki

Figures

FIGURE 4. Bivariate plot of numbers of subcaudal versus ventral shields for Xylophis mosaicus (data from Deepak et al. 2020 and Narayanan et al. 2022) and X. chenkaruppan sp. nov. Two specimens of X. mosaicus reported as males (by Deepak et al. 2020) are outliers that require re-examination.