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Plastrons of Malayan Box Turtles (Cuora amboinensis) in Ayaw daw, Sagaing Region (22 March 2014). Plastron at upper left is from an Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongata). Photograph by Steven G. Platt.
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The herpetofauna of Myanmar remains one of the least studied and poorly known in Asia, and even basic distributional and natural history data are lacking for many species. This situation is particularly alarming given the need for such data when prioritizing conservation action and crafting effective management plans. Furthermore, ethnobiological i...
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... amboinensis (Malayan box turtle) sagaing region: Eight plastrons from turtles harvested locally for domestic consumption in Ayaw daw (22 March 2014). our sample consisted of two males (Pl = 140 and 157 mm) and six females (Pl = 139, 157, 159, 162, 165 and 165 mm), distinguished by plastral morphology (Fig. 2). These turtles reportedly were captured in grass swamps (= Khaing Daw) characteristic of heavy clay soils near Ayaw daw (Fig. 3). & PHiliPPeN (1998) in recognizing C. amboinensis lineata as a valid subspecies in upper Myanmar. Cuora amboinensis has not been previously reported from Sagaing Region and our records from Ayaw Daw ...
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... to smitH (1931), M. trijuga edeniana deposits a "number of oval eggs at one time". comments: despite being widely available in the domestic pet trade and the most abundant turtle in pagoda ponds (saN saN WiN, 2005), we are unaware of any established feral populations of T. scripta elegans within Myanmar. This temperate zone chelonian may be unable to successfully reproduce under tropical conditions in Myanmar. ...
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... Previously reported from Rakhine State (levitoN et al., 2008). Bungarus fasciatus (banded krait) rakhine state: Adult (Tl = 1,180 mm, SVl = 970 mm, stomach empty) found dead in small creek in evergreen forest surrounding Kanyin Gyauk Basecamp (29 May 2013). ...
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... clutch of eggs removed from the carcass was cooked together with the meat. comments: Ophiophagus hannah has not previously been reported from Magway Region, but is known from adjacent Mandalay Region (levitoN et al., 2008). The clutch size of the decapitated snake we examined in Khu Chaung is near the minimum range (20 to 51 eggs) given by Das (2010) for O. hannah. ...
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... punctulatus (spotted keelback water snake) ayeyarwady region: Three snakes (Tl ca. 500-700 mm; Fig. 22) encountered (1040 -1050 h) on footpath between boat landing and Myauk Tayar Pagoda in Meinmahla Wildlife Sanctuary (26 January 2017). Footpath was constructed atop an elevated berm running through a dense stand of mangrove and freshwater swamp forest. Snakes appeared to be basking in patches of sunlight along the trail. upon our ...
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... dead trees in abandoned taungya fields at Mi Gyaung Ba Wa (17 november 2012). Secondary forest surrounding Soe nay Kanaung (18 november 2012). Secondary forest and village dwellings at Kone Pan (21 november 2012). Magway region: Adult (Tl ca. 200 mm) in headquarters buildings at Shwe Settaw Wildlife Sanctuary (15 June 2015). Adult (Tl ca. 200 mm; Fig. 23A) in outbuilding at headquarters of Shwe Settaw Wildlife Sanctuary (17 october 2015). rakhine state: Headquarters buildings of Rakhine Yoma Elephant Sanctuary, Gwa (23 May 2013) Kyaukke (18 March 2014). Guest house in Kalay (19 March 2014). Village residence in Kywe (20 March 2014). Several Tokay vocalizing simultaneously from houses ...
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... flashlights and capture them by hand, usually while wearing heavy leather gloves as protection. Hunters often pinpoint the location of Tokay by listening for their nocturnal vocalizations, particularly in natural habitats. occasionally large trees containing cavities that shelter Tokay are felled and the cavities chopped open to extract geckos (Fig. 23B). Tokay are kept in large bottles and provided with cooked rice and living crickets until sold to wildlife traders. comments: The international trade in Tokay for traditional medicine is "colossal" with millions of geckos imported into southern China and Taiwan (calliBet, 2013). A novel trade centered on Peninsular Malaysia emerged in ...
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... and harvest eggs, but leave a few in-situ to attract predators. The excavated nest is then surrounded with a bamboo fence with occasional gaps left where "trip-up" snares are emplaced. Predators (including V. salvator) trigger the snare when passing through these openings. We witnessed the culinary preparation of two V. salvator in Rakhine State (Fig. 25b). ...
Citations
... In Lampi Marine NP., Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar, this species was found coiled in trailside vegetation (ca. 50 cm above the ground) in undisturbed tropical evergreen forest on ridgeline (Platt et al. 2018). Arboreal and nocturnal, it is mostly found hanging above streams, sometimes at 6-8 m above water. ...
Despite recent progress in our understanding of diversity within the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804, the subgenus Popeia Malhotra & Thorpe, 2004, distributed across most parts of East and Southeast Asia, remains taxonomically challenging. We applied an integrative taxonomic approach including analyses of morphological data and four mitochondrial genes (12S and 16S rRNA, cytochrome b , and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4), along with examination of available type material, to address longstanding taxonomic questions in one clade within Popeia , the T. popeiorum group, and reveal a high level of hidden diversity of these snakes in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. We confirm that T. popeiorum Smith, 1937 sensu stricto is restricted to Northeast India, eastern Nepal, southern Bhutan, southeastern Bangladesh, western Yunnan Province (China), and northern and southwestern Myanmar. We further confirm that the recently described species T. yingjiangensis Chen et al., 2019 is a junior synonym of T. popeiorum . In addition, we discovered that the combination Trimesurus [sic] elegans Gray, 1853 is a valid senior synonym of T. popeiorum and threatens the stability of the latter taxon. Therefore, in order to protect the nomen popeiorum and in accordance with Article 23.9 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, we regard the taxon Trimesurus elegans as a nomen oblitum and render Trimeresurus popeiorum a nomen protectum. Examination of a larger series of specimens allows us to describe two new cryptic species of Trimeresurus from the Indo-Burma Region. This study brings the total number of species in the subgenus Popeia to six and also suggests that the subspecific taxonomy of the T. sabahi complex requires further investigation. We urge adequate actions regarding the conservation of the newly discovered species and recommend further studies on their toxicology.
... Several cases in captivity are known (Naulleau 1967;Kelleway 1982;Burghardt and Denny 1983;Grimpe 1984;Yeager and Burghardt 1991;Firmage and Shine 1996;Doody et al. 2021), but few are reported in the wild. These events in the wild may involve multiple individuals of the same species (Platt et al. 2018), competitions associated along with ritualised combats (Agkistrodon conanti, Farrell 2022Farrell , pers. comm. ...
Kleptoparasitism, or food theft, is seldom reported in wild populations of snakes. Here, we describe as case where two Red-tailed Coral Snakes, Micrurus mipartitus , were observed competing for the same caecilian prey, either Caecilia leucocephala or C. perdita . This took place at night in a rainforest habitat in Valle del Cauca Department, western Colombia. Upon our arrival, the battle had already started as the two coral snakes kept bite-holds on the caecilian. They continued biting the prey at different places on the anterior parts and tugging in opposite directions. The snakes also made rotations along the longitudinal axis as they maintained their bite-holds. Surprisingly, one snake also bit the body of the other snake once. After 17 minutes of observation, the losing coral snake released its bite-hold on the caecilian. The winner then moved away from the losing snake which did not follow. It is well-known that M. mipartitus and other coral snakes eat caecilians, but this is the first observation of kleptoparasitism in elapid snakes in the wild. It is considered likely that they rely on chemoreception when detecting caecilians, notably in this case as two coral snakes detected the same prey item. In general, kleptoparasitism may occur more frequently amongst snakes than indicated by the very few published cases considering that numerous cases from captivity are known.
... With the exclusion of the questionable species of the C. mystaceus complex (i.e., C. geissleri, C. goetzi, and C. vindumbarbatus), there are eight species of Calotes currently recorded in Myanmar (Zug et al. 2006;Platt et al. 2018;Uetz et al. 2022;present study), including C. chincollium, C. emma, C. irawadi, C. htunwini, C. mystaceus, C. iadina sp. nov., and C. yunnanensis. ...
Owing to the harsh terrain, few biodiversity surveys have been carried out in the Pan-Himalaya Region. Among the understudied taxa from this region, Jerdon’s forest lizard, Calotes jerdoni , is believed to have a wide distribution, from northeast India to southwestern China. However, given the heterogeneous environment across its range and the lack of studies on this species, its taxonomy remains questionable. Using integrative taxonomic methods, we combined both morphological and genetic data from the type and topotypic specimens and examined the current taxonomic hypothesis of C. jerdoni across its range. Molecular data reveal that C. jerdoni as currently recognized, contains three deeply diverged lineages: one from the type locality in Northeast India, one from Western Myanmar, and another one from Southwestern China. The uncorrected genetic distances of mitochondrial coding gene ND2 among these three clades ranged over 10%. The Chinese population is sister to C. medogensis and paraphyletic to the remaining two clades of C. jerdoni . Morphological analyses confirm the results of the molecular analyses, where the Myanmar and Chinese populations can be diagnosed statistically in both univariate and multivariate space from the true C. jerdoni , as well as by a suite of reliable categorical morphological characters, including the size and shape of gular scales and ventral scales. To resolve the current taxonomic confusion, we resurrect the junior synonym, C. yunnanensis , for the Chinese population and expand its distribution to Myanmar, redescribe the elusive C. maria and C. medogensis based on its type material, and describe the remaining western Myanmar population as a new species. We further discuss the possibility of additional cryptic species within the complex in the Pan-Himalaya Region and provide a diagnostic key to all recognized members of the C. jerdoni complex.
The Khorat snail-eating turtle (Malayemys khoratensis) is a recently described (2016), poorly studied freshwater turtle known from the Khorat Plateau in Thailand and a small area near Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic. We investigated the occurrence and natural history of M. khoratensis during field surveys of Xe Champhone Ramsar Site (XCRS) and Nong Louang Wetland Complex (NLWC) in Savannakhet Province, and also examined museum specimens and published and unpublished photographs of Malayemys spp. from Lao. Our field surveys confirmed the occurrence of M. khoratensis in the XCRS and NLWC, where populations remain subject to harvest at levels unlikely to be sustainable. We examined 7 museum specimens from Vientiane, Savannakhet, Khammouan, and Champasak provinces. Museum specimens from Vientiane, Savannakhet, and Khammouan provinces were referable to M. khoratensis. Published photographs confirm the occurrence of M. khoratensis in Vientiane Province, and Malayemys subtrijuga in Champasak Province. Collectively, our records extend the geographic distribution of K. khoratensis by > 300 km from previously reported localities. We posit the existence of a biogeographic barrier in southern Lao and adjacent Thailand that separates the allopatrically occurring M. khoratensis and M. subtrijuga.
