IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(1):107–108 • APR 2020

First Record of the Twin-spotted Wolfsnake, Lycodon jara (Shaw 1802),

from Bihar, IndiaShariq Shafi1, Abhishek2, Arif Ahmed3, Saurabh Verma3, Kamlesh K. Maurya1, Meraj Anwar1, Gaurav Ojha3, Ambarish Mall3,

and Hemkant Roy3

1WWF-India, 172 B, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003, India (sshafi@wwfindia.net)2TRAFFIC-India, 172 B, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003, India

3Valmiki Tiger Reserve, West Champaran, Bettiah, Bihar-845438, India

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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S

Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190

The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198

R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S

The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida

.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212

C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T

World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225

H U S B A N D R Y

Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226

P R O F I L E

Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234

C O M M E N T A R Y

The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238

B O O K R E V I E W

Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243

CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252

Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.

Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo

estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus

aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque

moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as

IRC

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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y

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Wolfsnakes in the genus Lycodon are represented by 50 species distributed throughout southern and southeast-

ern Asia (O’Shea et al. 2018), of which 16 species have been reported from India (Chaudhuri et al. 2015). The Twin-spotted Wolfsnake (Lycodon jara) occurs in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (Mallik et al. 2014; Chaudhuri et al. 2015), where it inhabits both forested and open landscapes, including agricultural areas (Captain 2010). In India, the species has been reported to occur throughout most of the northern and northeastern states (Talukdar and Dasgupta 1977; Bahuguna and Bhutia 2010; Captain 2010; Das et al. 2012; Khan and Sharma 2018). Dasgupta and Raha (2004) listed 37 species of snakes from Bihar; however, we herein report the first records of the Twin-spotted Wolfsnake from the state.

While on routine patrol, forest staff of the Valmiki Tiger Reserve found snakes (Fig. 1) on 17 August 2019 in the Valmiki Nagar Range and on 6 October 2019 in the Manguraha Range that were subsequently identified as Lycodon jara based on descriptions in Mallik et al. (2014) and Chaudhuri et al. (2015). The closest published locality record for this species is in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand (Khan and Sharma 2018), which is 377 km from the Manguraha location. The first sighting took place around 1415 h on the Bhalu Thapa Forest Road (27.43425°N, 83.94708°E; elev. 138 m asl) and the second at 0820 h near a perennial rivu-let (27.32670°N, 84.52206°E; elev. 136 m asl). Both locali-ties were in moist deciduous forest dominated by Sal (Shorea robusta) and Indian Laurel (Terminalia elliptica) trees. The

Fig. 1. Twin-spotted Wolfsnakes (Lycodon jara) from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar, India: An individual found on 17 August 2019 in the Valmiki Nagar Range (left) and another found on 6 October 2019 in the Manguraha Range (right); note the absence of a light collar in both snakes. Photographs by Mundrika Prasad (left) and Abdur Rehman (right).

IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324

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snake from the Valmiki Nagar Range was an adult (total length ~400 mm), whereas the individual from the Manguraha Range was a juvenile (total length ~220 mm). Neither snake had the light collar that is present in some young individuals (Whitaker and Captain 2004; Mallik et al. 2014; Chaudhuri et al. 2015), although Hussain and Roy (1993) and Shaw et al. (1999) also reported the snakes lacking collars.

AcknowledgementsWe are greatly indebted to the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department, Government of Bihar, par-ticularly to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden for their constant support. We are sincerely thankful to the forest staff, Mr. Mundrika Prasad, Mr. Abdur Rehman, Mr. Bihari Mahto, Mr. Ramdhar Kumar, and Mr. Vivek Badal, for their hard work and locating the species. We also thank Mr. Subhendu Mallik (General Sectretary of the Snake Helpline and Honorary Wildlife Warden, Department of Forest & Environment, Government of Odisha) for valu-able suggestions and for providing reference materials.

Literature CitedBahuguna, A. and P.T. Bhutia. 2010. Extension of the range and redescription of

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Das, A., D. Basu, L. Converse, and S.C. Choudhury. 2012. Herpetofauna of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 4: 2553–2568.

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O’Shea, M., K.I. Kusuma, and H. Kaiser. 2018. First record of the Island Wolfsnake, Lycodon capucinus (H. Boie in F. Boie 1827), from New Guinea, with comments on its widespread distribution and confused taxonomy, and a new record for the Common Sun Skink, Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl 1820). Reptiles & Amphibians 25: 70–84.

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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(1):107–108 • APR 2020SHAFI ET AL.