Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2019 | 11(1): 13180–13183

 

 

The easternmost distribution and highest elevation record of the rare Desert Cat Snake Telescopus rhinopoma (Reptilia: Colubridae) in Pakistan

 

Daniel Jablonski 1 & Rafaqat Masroor 2

 

1 Department of Zoology, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, Mlynská dolina, Bratislava 84215, Slovakia.

2 Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Garden Avenue, Shakarparian, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.

1 daniel.jablonski@balcanica.cz (corresponding author), 2 rafaqat.masroor78@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4650.11.1.13180-13183   |  ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:409FCA73-3177-4FC9-9862-79150AD12DF8

 

Editor: Gernot Vogel, Heidelberg, Germany.    Date of publication: 26 January 2019 (online & print)

 

Manuscript details: #4650 | Received 22 October 2018 | Final received 21 November 2018 | Finally accepted 27 December 2018

 

Citation: Jablonski, D. & R. Masroor (2019). The easternmost distribution and highest elevation record of the rare Desert Cat Snake Telescopus rhinopoma (Reptilia: Colubridae) in Pakistan. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(1): 13180–13183; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4650.11.1.13180-13183

 

Copyright: © Jablonski & Masroor 2019. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract no. APVV-15-0147.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We thank Khurshid Shah from the Wildlife Conservation Society Pakistan for the images of the individual from Mastuj, the two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions that improved the first version of the manuscript, and Stephen Goldberg who kindly checked and corrected the language. 

 

 

 

One of the most enigmatic reptile species in the Western Palearctic, the Desert Cat Snake Telescopus rhinopoma (Blanford, 1874) is currently known from only a few records from the Middle East (southeastern Iran, with the type locality of the species in Kerman Province), central Asia (southern Turkmenistan), and southern Asia (central Afghanistan and western and northwestern Pakistan).  It is a monotypic species biogeographically classified as an Iranian chorotype (Blanford 1876; Wall 1914; Minton 1966; Böhme 1977; Rai 1978; Sindaco et al. 2013).

As is the case for the other members of its genus (currently comprised of 15 species; Mazuch et al. 2018), this species has a triangular head, distinct from the neck with a flat and broad snout.  It is the largest species of the genus.  The body is cylindrical, moderately slender with a total length of about 160cm (Latifi 1991; Mazuch et al. 2018).  It is pale greyish dorsally with a series of large dark brown squarish blotches that fade away from mid-body onward.  There is a lateral colour pattern consisting of alternating series of smaller poorly defined spots.  The ventral surface is dark brown (Minton 1966; Khan 2006).  Due to overlapping morphologic characteristics with T. fallax and T. tessellatus, T. rhinopoma was ranked as a member of the T. fallax complex (Böhme 1977; Sindaco et al. 2013).

Telescopus rhinopoma is a nocturnal, oviparous species that was recorded from arid, rocky hills of up to 2,000m in elevation in Iran (Moradi et al. 2013).  The record from Afghanistan comes from a locality with an elevation of approximately 1,050m (Böhme 1977; see Wagner et al. 2016 for the corrected geographic position of the locality).  All previously recorded Pakistani localities of the species range up to 1,600m in elevation (Mertens 1969; Table 1), though Khan (2006) documented the species only up to 700m.  In summary, we have very little knowledge about the distribution and ecology of T. rhinopoma within its known distribution range.  Due to the rarity of this species, each new record is important and should be documented in detail to assess the threat status and to determine conservation priorities of the species.  The current category for the species according to the IUCN is Data Deficient (Papenfuss et al. 2017).

More than three decades ago, T. rhinopoma was known in Pakistan from only five exact localities and one unknown locality situated in Sindh Province (Ingoldby & Procter 1923; Minton 1966; Mertens 1969; Böhme 1977).  The easternmost records of this species were from Pakistani Waziristan’s federally administered tribal areas (Fig. 1).  Here we provide two new records of the species from Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Kunar River Valley, Hindu Kush range, Pakistan.  The first record originates from Kroi Deri Village near Mastuj (36.280N & 72.470E, 2,269m), where an adult specimen was observed in October 2012.  The snake was found injured lying on the main road towards Mastuj, possibly struck by a vehicle (Image 1).  The second observation was recorded near the village of Gahtak in November 2016 (35.860N & 71.800E, 1,823m).  This individual was also an adult but was not photographed.  Both records are from semi-arid, rocky areas (Image 1).  These observations were made by a local naturalist, without exact measurements or other recorded data.  Both individuals were released and not collected.  We compared our new records with the published geo-referenced records of this species from Afghanistan and Pakistan using Google Earth (WGS84).  These records expand the known distribution range of the species to more than 400km northeastwards.  Moreover, the elevation limit of the occurrence of the species increased overall by 269m, particularly by 699m in the territory of Pakistan.

These new records represent an important new range and elevation extension for T. rhinopoma in Pakistan and the Hindu Kush range.  The new localities are located 350km (Gahtak) and 415km northeast (by air), respectively, from the nearest known locality of Miran Shah in Pakistani Waziristan (Smith 1943).  Both new localities are characterised by dry, semi-evergreen deciduous scrub, evergreen oak deodar forests, or subtropical pine forests, habitats that are suitable for the occurrence of T. rhinopoma (Khan 2006).  From a biogeographical point of view, the presence of Platyceps rhodorachis (Jan, 1865), Ptyas mucosa (Linnaeus, 1758), Spalerosophis diadema (Schlegel, 1837), or Naja oxiana (Eichwald, 1831) in the region suggests a common migration route (the so-called Hindu Kush corridor; Khan 2006) along the Kunar River system from Chitral Valley to Mastuj.  These mostly Irano-Turanian species have similar habitat requirements, although not ecologically compatible.  The deep valleys of the Hindu Kush, with an arid and rocky character, allow the eastward penetration of reptiles from lower semi-desert foothill regions to the mountain areas.  The Kunar River system was also hypothesized as a potential migration route for Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768) in Pakistan (Mebert & Masroor 2013).  Further field research is needed to understand whether the lack of data from areas between these localities is due to poor sampling or rather reflects a fragmentary distribution of the species in isolated populations.  Genetic analyses that show affiliations of this and other populations of T. rhinopoma are also needed.

 

 

Table 1. A summary of distribution records of Telescopus rhinopoma from Afghanistan and Pakistan

 

 

Country

Locality

0N

0E

Elevation (m)

Sources

1

Afghanistan

Band-e-Kajaki

32.32

65.24

1,050

Böhme 1977; Wagner et al. 2016

2

Pakistan

Kacha Daman (Thana)

27.36

64.94

1,315

Wall 1914

3

Pakistan

Galangur

29.64

66.34

1,570

Mertens 1969

4

Pakistan

Kirgi Bridge

32.30

69.63

1,320

Ingoldby & Procter 1923; Minton 1966

5

Pakistan

Jandola

32.32

70.13

680

Ingoldby & Procter 1923; Minton 1966

6

Pakistan

Miran Shah (Tochi Valley)

32.97

70.17

754

Smith 1943

7

Pakistan

Gahtak

35.86

71.80

1,823

This study

8

Pakistan

Kroi Deri, Mastuj

36.28

72.47

2,269

This study

 

 

For images/figures  -- click here

 

References

 

Blanford, W.T. (ed.) (1876). Eastern Persia: An Account of the Journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission, 1870–1871–1872, Vol. II: The Zoology and Geology. Macmillan & Co., London, 516pp.

Böhme, W. (1977). Further specimens of the rare cat snake, Telescopus rhinopoma (Blandford, 1874) (Reptilia, Serpentes, Colubridae). Journal of Herpetology 11(2): 201–205.

Ingoldby, C.M. & J.B. Procter (1923). Notes on a collection of Reptilia from Waziristan and the adjoining portion of the N.W. frontier province. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 29: 127–129.

Khan, M.S. (2006). The Amphibians and Reptiles of Pakistan. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida, 311pp.

Latifi, M. (1991). The Snakes of Iran - English Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Oxford, Ohio, USA, 159pp.

Mazuch, T., J. Šmíd, J., T. Price, P. Frýdlová, A.I. Awale, H.S.A. Elmi & D. Frynta (2018). New records of one of the least known snakes, Telescopus pulcher (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Horn of Africa. Zootaxa 4462(4): 483–496.

Mebert, K. & R. Masroor (2013). Dice Snakes in the western Himalayas: discussion of potential expansion routes of Natrix tessellata after its rediscovery in Pakistan. Salamandra 49(4): 229–233.

Mertens, R. (1969). Die Amphibien und Reptilien west-Pakistans. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde aus dem Staatichen Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart 197: 1–96.

Minton, S.A. Jr. (1966). A contribution to the herpetology of west Pakistan. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 134(2): 27–184.

Moradi, N., S. Shafiei & M.E. Sehhatisabet (2013). The snake fauna of Khabr National Park, southeast of Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics 9(1): 41–55.

Papenfuss, T., S. Bafti, N.B. Ananjeva, N.L. Orlov & G. Nilson (2017). Telescopus rhinopoma. In: IUCN 2017 Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 19 October 2018. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T164693A49062553.en

Rai, M.M. (1978). Une nouvelle récolte de Telescopus rhinopoma Blanford, 1874 (Serpentes: Colubridae), une espèce très rare. Canadian Journal of Zoology 56: 146–149.

Sindaco, R., A. Venchi & C. Grieco (2013). The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic 2. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, with an Update to the Vol. 1. Societas Herpetologica Italica, Via Adige, Latina, Italy, 543pp.

Smith, M.A. (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia, 3 (Serpentes). Taylor & Francis, London, 583pp.

Wagner, P., A.M. Bauer, A.E. Leviton, T.M. Wilms & W. Böhme (2016). A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Afghanistan exploring herpetodiversity using biodiversity archives. Proceedings of the Californian Academy of Sciences, Series 4 63(13): 457–565.

Wall, F. (1914). A new snake from Baluchistan (Dipsadomorphus jollyi). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 23: 167–168.