Hebius parallelus

{{speciesbox

| status = DD | status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=China Snakes Working Group. |year=2021 |title=Hebius parallelum |volume=2021 |page=e.T192019A2028839 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T192019A2028839.en |access-date=3 November 2022}}

| genus = Hebius

| species = parallelus

| authority = (Boulenger, 1890)

| synonyms = *Tropidonotus parallelus Boulenger, 1890

Natrix parallela – Mell, 1931
Amphiesma parallela
– Malnate, 1960
Paranatrix parallela
– Mahendra, 1984
Amphiesma parallelum
– David et al., 1998The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

}}

The Yunnan keelback (Hebius parallelus) is a species of natricine snake which is endemic to Asia.

Geographic range

It is found in Bhutan, China (Tibet and Yunnan), Northeast India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, Nagaland) and Myanmar.

Description

Dorsally, it is brown with two parallel yellowish, black-edged stripes on the body and tail. The ventrals and subcaudals are uniform yellow, or with a black dot on each side. There is a black streak from the eye to the corner of the mouth, and the labials are yellow.

It may have one, two, or three preocular scales, and has three postoculars. There are seven or eight upper labials (usually eight), with the third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye. The temporals may be 1 + 1, 1 + 2, or 2 + 2.

Strongly keeled dorsal scales arranged in 19 rows at midbody. Ventrals 163–175; anal plate divided; subcaudals 73–95, also divided.

Adults may attain 56 cm (22 inches) in total length with a tail of 14 cm (5½ inches).Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume I., Containing the Families...Colubridæ Aglyphæ. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I.-XXVIII. (Tropidonotus parallelus, p. 223 & Plate XIII., fig. 2.)

Hebius parallelus

Geographic range

Description

References

Further reading