Muhtarophis

Muhtarophis barani
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Muhtarophis Avci et al., 2015
Species:	M. barani
Binomial name
Muhtarophis barani (Olgun, Avci, Ilgaz, Üzüm & Yilmaz, 2007)
Synonyms [2]
Rhynchocalamus barani Olgun, Avci, Ilgaz, Üzüm & Yilmaz, 2007 Rhynchocalamus barani — Wallach et al. 2014 Muhtarophis barani — Avci et al. 2015 Muhtarophis barani — Šmíd et al. 2015

Muhtarophis barani, also known commonly as Baran's black-headed dwarf snake, is a species of snake in the monotypic genus Muhtarophis in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. ^[3] The species is endemic to the Amanos Mountains of Turkey, and was discovered in 2007. ^{[4] [5]}

Etymology

The generic name, Muhtarophis, is in honor of Turkish herpetologist Muhtar Başoğlu (with the suffix -ophis meaning "snake"). ^[6]

The specific name, barani, is in honor of Turkish herpetologist İbrahim Baran  [ tr ] of the Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir. ^{[2] [7]}

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of M. barani are shrubland and rocky areas, at an altitude of 1,300 m (4,300 ft). ^[1]

Description

M. barani has 17 dorsal scale rows at midbody, and 163–173 ventral scales. The head is oblique-shaped anteriorly. There is a distinctive black blotch under the eye, running into a narrow stripe. The dorsal surface of the body is colored reddish brown, with no spots. ^[2]

Reproduction

M. barani is oviparous. ^[2]

References

1. Kaska Y, Kumlutaş Y, Avci A, Üzüm N, Yeniyurt C, Akarsu F (2018). "Muhtarophis barani (amended version of 2009 assessment)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T164762A122877031. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T164762A122877031.en. Downloaded on 08 October 2018.
2. "Muhtarophis barani OLGUN, AVCI, ILGAZ, ÜZÜM & YILMAZ, 2007". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
3. "Amanos Dwarf Snake". AdaMerOs Herptil Türkiye. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
4. "Molecular Phylogeny and Micro CT-Scanning Revealed Extreme Cryptic Biodiversity in Kukri Snake, A New Genus for Rhynchocalamus barani (Serpentes: Colubridae)". Novataxa. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
5. Tamar K, Šmíd J, Göçmen B, Meiri S, Carranza S (2016). "An integrative systematic revision and biogeography of Rhynchocalamus snakes (Reptilia, Colubridae) with a description of a new species from Israel". PeerJ. 4 e2769. doi: 10.7717/peerj.2769 . PMC   5183090 . PMID   28028461.
6. Avci et al. (2015).
7. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Rhynchocalamus barani, p. 16).

Further reading

• Avci A, Ilgaz Ç, Rajabizadeh M, Yilmaz C, Üzüm N, Andriaens D, Kumlutaş Y, Olgun K (2015). "Molecular phylogeny and micro CT-scanning revealed extreme cryptic biodiversity in kukri snake Muhtarophis gen. nov., a new genus for Rhynchocalamus barani (Serpentes: Colubridae)". Russian Journal of Herpetology22 (3): 159–174.
• Olgun K, Avci A, Ilgaz Ç, Üzüm N, Yilmaz C (2007). "A new species of Rhynchocalamus (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae) from Turkey". Zootaxa1399: 57–68. (Rhynchocalamus barani, new species).