Rhabdophis helleri

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Colubroidea

Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Unikonta Cladus: Opisthokonta Cladus: Holozoa Regnum: Animalia Subregnum: Eumetazoa Cladus: ParaHoxozoa Cladus: Bilateria Cladus: Nephrozoa Superphylum: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Cladus: Olfactores Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Megaclassis: Osteichthyes Cladus: Sarcopterygii Cladus: Rhipidistia Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes Cladus: Elpistostegalia Superclassis: Tetrapoda Cladus: Reptiliomorpha Cladus: Amniota Cladus: Sauropsida Classis: Reptilia Cladus: Eureptilia Cladus: Romeriida Cladus: Diapsida Cladus: Neodiapsida Cladus: Sauria Cladus: Lepidosauromorpha Subclassis: Lepidosauria Ordo: Squamata Subordo: Serpentes Cladus: Caenophidia Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Colubridae
Subfamilia: Natricinae
Genus: Rhabdophis
Species: Rhabdophis helleri

Name

Rhabdophis helleri (Schmidt, 1925)

• Holotype: AMNH 20149, adult ♀, collected by R.C. Andrews and Edmund Heller on 24 April 1917.
• Type locality: “Tengyueh [=Tengchong], 5500 feet altitude, Province of Yunnan, China”.

Combinations

• Natrix helleri Schmidt,, 1925: 3 [original combination]
• Natrix subminiata helleri — Mell, 1931: 203 [subsequent combination, reduce to subspecies]
• Rhabdophis subminiata helleri — Pope, 1935: 133 [subsequent combination]
• Rhabdophis helleri — Liu et al., 2021: 1379 [subsequent combination, restaure to species]

References

Primary references

• Schmidt, K.P. 1925. New reptiles and a new salamander from China. American Museum Novitates 157: 1–5. hdl: 2246/4505
• Liu, Q., Xie, X.-H., Wu, Y.-Y., Shu, G.-S., Guo, K., Guo, P. & Cui, L.-W. 2021. High genetic divergence but low morphological differences in a keelback snake Rhabdophis subminiatus (Reptilia, Colubridae). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 59(6): 1371–1381. DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12484 Reference page. 

Additional references

• David, P. & Vogel, G. 2021. Taxonomic composition of the Rhabdophis subminiatus (Schlegel, 1837) species complex (Reptilia: Natricidae) with the description of a new species from China. Taprobanica 10(2): 89–120. DOI: 10.47605/tapro.v10i2.257 Reference page. 

Links

• Uetz, P., Freed, P., Aguilar, P., Reyes, R., Kudera, F. & Hošek, J. (eds.) 2025. Rhabdophis helleri. The Reptile Database. Accessed on 25 November 2021.

Vernacular names

English: Heller’s Red-necked Keelback

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