Description of a new species of Pseudorabdion (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Panay Island, Philippines with a revised key to the genus

Abstract

We describe a new species of snake in the colubrid genus Pseudorabdion from the western coastal mountain range of Panay island, Philippines. The new species appears to be related to the members of the P. mcnamarae species group (P. mcnamarae and P. taylori from the Philippines, P. albonuchalis, and P. saravacensis from Borneo, and P. sarasinorum from Sulawesi) but differs from each of these species by characters of scalation and color pattern. The new species is one of several other recently-discovered vertebrates from Panay island. Together, these discoveries suggest that diversity and endemism patterns of the Negros-Panay Pleistocene aggregate island platform (Negros, Panay, Cebu and Masbate islands) are more complex and interesting than previously thought.