Ahaetuliinae

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Ahaetuliinae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ahaetuliinae Temporal range: Oligocene-Holocene, 33.63–0 Ma^[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N

Ahaetulla sp.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Ahaetuliinae Figueroa, McKelvy, Grismer, Bell, and Lailvaux, 2016
Genera
Ahaetulla Chrysopelea Dendrelaphis Dryophiops Proahaetulla

The Ahaetuliinae are a subfamily of vine snakes within the family Colubridae that was erected in 2016. They are found from South and Southeast Asia through to Australia.

Etymology

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The name comes from the genus Ahaetulla, which gets its name from the Sri Lankan Sinhalese language words ahaetulla/ahata gulla/as gulla, meaning “eye plucker” or “eye picker”, because of the belief that they pluck out the eyes of humans, as first reported by the Portuguese traveler João Ribeiro in 1685.^[2]^[3]

Classification

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Ahaetuliinae was formally named and described in 2016 by Figueroa et al., using the name proposed by Pyron et al. in 2013. Previously placed within Colubrinae, Ahaetuliinae was strongly supported as the sister group to Colubrinae in a 2016 study by Figueroa et al., as shown in the cladogram below:^[3]

Colubridae

	Sibynophiinae

	Natricinae

	Pseudoxenodontinae

	Dipsadinae

	Grayiinae

	Calamariinae

	Ahaetuliinae

	Colubrinae

Ahaetuliinae is split into two separate monophyletic groups: one group consists of the sharp-nosed snakes of the generas Dryophiops, Ahaetulla, and the recently named Proahaetulla, and the second group consists of the rectangular-snouted snakes of the generas Dendrelaphis and Chrysopelea.^[3]^[1] The most recent common ancestor (and origin) of Ahaetuliinae dates back to an estimated 33.63 million years ago, from the Oligocene epoch. The subfamily diverged into the five separate genera during this time, with the latest divergence of Proahaetulla from Ahaetulla occurring an estimated 26.55 million years ago.^[1]

The phylogeny of many of the species within Ahaetuliinae can be shown in the cladogram below, with possibly paraphyletic species noted:^[1]

Ahaetuliinae

sharp‑nosed snakes

Ahaetulla

	Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla fasciolata

Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla mycterizans

Ahaetulla prasina (paraphyletic)

	Ahaetulla anomala

	Ahaetulla pulverulenta

Ahaetulla nasuta (paraphyletic)

Ahaetulla fronticincta

Proahaetulla antiqua

Dryophiops

	Dryophiops rubescens

	Dryophiops philippina

broad‑nosed snakes

Dendrelaphis

	Dendrelaphis marenae

	Dendrelaphis haasi

Dendrelaphis pictus

	Dendrelaphis ngansonensis

	Dendrelaphis cyanochloris

Dendrelaphis striatus

Dendrelaphis formosus

	Dendrelaphis tristis

	Dendrelaphis subocularis

Dendrelaphis schokari

	Dendrelaphis fuliginosus

	Dendrelaphis caudolineatus

Chrysopelea

	Chrysopelea paradisi

	Chrysopelea ornata

Chrysopelea pelias

Chrysopelea taprobanica

Distribution

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Ahaetuliinae are distributed from Pakistan, through India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia into southeastern China, in the Philippines, the Malay Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia.^[3] Most species are found in forests.

Description

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Ahaetuliine snakes are arboreal and have keeled ventral and subcaudal scales (laterally notched in some species), and enlarged posterior grooved fangs (lacking in some Dendrelaphis).^[3]

Notable traits of some species include gliding in Chrysopelea, jumping behavior in Dendrelaphis, and large eyes with horizontal pupils in Ahaetulla and Dryophiops..^[3]

List of genera

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Ahaetuliinae comprises five genera containing 77 species (Ahaetulla [20 species], Chrysopelea [5 species], Dendrelaphis [49 species], Dryophiops [2 species] and Proahaetulla [1 species]) that are more closely related to one another than to members of the subfamily Colubrinae.^[4]

Ahaetulla (20 species)
Chrysopelea (5 species)
Dendrelaphis (49 species)
Dryophiops (2 species)
Proahaetulla (1 species)

References

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^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mallik, Ashok Kumar; Achyuthan, N. Srikanthan; Ganesh, Sumaithangi R.; Pal, Saunak P.; Vijayakumar, S. P.; Shanker, Kartik (27 July 2019). "Discovery of a deeply divergent new lineage of vine snake (Colubridae: Ahaetuliinae: Proahaetulla gen. nov.) from the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India with a revised key for Ahaetuliinae". PLOS ONE. 14 (7): e0218851. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1418851M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218851. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6636718. PMID 31314800.
^ Weinstein, S. A.; Warrell, D. A.; White, J.; Keyler, D. E. (2011). Venomous bites from non-venomous snakes: A critical analysis of risk and management of "colubrid" snake bites. London: Elsevier.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Figueroa, A.; McKelvy, A. D.; Grismer, L. L.; Bell, C. D.; Lailvaux, S. P. (2016). "A species-level phylogeny of extant snakes with description of a new colubrid subfamily and genus". PLOS ONE. 11 (9): e0161070. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1161070F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161070. PMC 5014348. PMID 27603205.
^ Uetz, Peter. "Ahaetuliinae". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 18 September 2019.

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