. Asiatic herpetological research. Reptiles -- Asia Periodicals; Amphibians -- Asia Periodicals. Figure 1. Coluber karelini. A. Dorsal head scales; B. Lateral head scales. eyes large, with distinct round pupil. Snout project- ing, distinct canthus, a pair of nasals. Body scales smooth, 19-21 at midbody. reduced to 11-13 at vent, anal divided; ventrals rounded, ranging 192-277; sub- caudals paired, ranging 82-145; hemipenis is simple with single sulcus spermaticus, distal portion calcu- late, proximally spinose, spines enlarged. Evaluation of Characters used in Coluber tax- onomy Various morpho
. Asiatic herpetological research. Reptiles -- Asia Periodicals; Amphibians -- Asia Periodicals. Figure 1. Coluber karelini. A. Dorsal head scales; B. Lateral head scales. eyes large, with distinct round pupil. Snout project- ing, distinct canthus, a pair of nasals. Body scales smooth, 19-21 at midbody. reduced to 11-13 at vent, anal divided; ventrals rounded, ranging 192-277; sub- caudals paired, ranging 82-145; hemipenis is simple with single sulcus spermaticus, distal portion calcu- late, proximally spinose, spines enlarged. Evaluation of Characters used in Coluber tax- onomy Various morphological characters have been used in different combinations for Taxonomic determination of Pakistani Coluber racers. In the following section these characters are examined in the light of the data collected from present collections: i. Circumocular scales: Basic circumocular scalation consists of one supraocular, one preocular and two postoculars. Usually one supralabial. the fifth, touches orbit in C. karelini (Fig. lb), while two supralabials, 5th and 6th (rarely 4th and 5th) touch the orbit in both C. rhodorachis and C. ventromaculatus. Circumocular conditions are complicated by the appearance of a presubocular or a postsubocular scale preventing either 4th or 5th, rarely 6th supraocular to come in contact with orbit, so that one. two, three, or none of the supralabials comes in contact with orbit and conditions like that seen in C. karelini may appear in C. rhodorachis and C. ventromaculatus (Bannikov et al., 1977; Gasperetti, 1988). Rarely, presubocular and postsubocular are fragmented in 3-4 scales at loreal and postocular region. Table 1 summarizes different circumocular states observed in the present collection: in 97% C. karelini 5th supralabial is in contact with orbit on both sides, Table 1. Variations in circumocular scutellation of Pakistani colubrid snakes: (1= C. karelini; 2= C. rhodorachis; 3= C. ventromaculatus. Note: fig- ures with oblique represent bilateral
Size: 959px × 2606px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionbiodiversity, bookcontributorharv
