https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Oligodon_churahensisOligodon churahensis - Revision history2026-11-04T00:39:12ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oligodon_churahensis&diff=522880&oldid=prevStaciWinslow: Starting info.2025-12-16T04:07:01Z<p>Starting info.</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Species of snake from India}}<br />
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{{speciesbox<br />
| image = Oligodon churahensis (10.3897-evolsyst.5.72564) Figure 6 (cropped).jpg<br />
| image_alt = brownish snake with black bands on wood<br />
| image_caption = Female<br />
| genus = Oligodon<br />
| species = churahensis<br />
| authority = Mirza, Bhardwaj, and Patel, 2021<br />
}}<br />
'''''Oligodon churahensis''''', the '''Churah Valley kukri snake''', is a [[species]] of snake in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Colubridae]]. It was discovered when a photo of it was posted in [[Instagram]] and noticed by two biologists, leading to them contacting the poster and collecting specimens of the species. It is known only from the state of [[Himachal Pradesh]] in India. The common and [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] both refer to the Churah Valley, where it was discovered.<br />
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== Taxonomy ==<br />
The Churah Valley kukri snake was first photographed by Virender Bhardwaj, an Indian [[graduate student]]. During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], Bhardwaj began exploring his hometown, [[Chamba, Himachal Pradesh|Chamba]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], and posting photos of what he found on [[Instagram]]. When he posted a photo of a [[Oligodon|kukri snake]] in June 2020, the biologists Zeeshan Mirza and Harshil Patel saw it and thought that it might be of an undescribed species.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Instagram image leads to discovery of new snake species|language=en-US|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/new-snake-species/2021/12/16/aaf772cc-5869-11ec-9a18-a506cf3aa31d_story.html|access-date=2022-01-05|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-11-29|title=Scientists describe a new Himalayan snake species found via Instagram|url=https://india.mongabay.com/2021/11/scientists-describe-a-new-himalayan-snake-species-found-via-instagram/|access-date=2022-01-08|website=[[Mongabay]]|language=en-US}}</ref> They contacted Bhardwaj, and a female [[holotype]] and a male [[paratype]] of the species were subsequently collected from near the village of Thanei Kothi in the Churah Valley on June 22 and June 25, respectively. The researchers concluded that the specimens represented a distinct species on the basis of [[DNA analysis]] and morphology, and described it as ''Oligodon churahensis''. The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] is a [[Metonymy|metonym]] after the Churah Valley, where the types of the species were collected.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Mirza|first1=Zeeshan A.|last2=Bhardwaj|first2=Virender Kumar|last3=Patel|first3=Harshil|date=2021-11-02|title=A new species of snake of the genus Oligodon Boie in Fitzinger, 1826 (Reptilia, Serpentes) from the Western Himalayas|url=https://evolsyst.pensoft.net/article/72564/|journal=[[Evolutionary Systematics]]|volume=5|issue=2|pages=335–345|doi=10.3897/evolsyst.5.72564|issn=2535-0730|doi-access=free}}</ref><br />
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The Churah Valley kukri snake is one of over 80 species in the kukri snake genus ''Oligodon'', and is most closely related to the [[banded kukri snake]] (''O. arnensis'').<ref name=":0" /><br />
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== Description ==<br />
The Churah Valley kukri snake is a medium-sized ''Oligodon'', with a [[snout–vent length]] of {{Convert|275|mm|in|abbr=on}} and 17 rows of [[dorsal scales]] at the middle of the body. It has seven [[Supralabial scale|supralabial scales]], out of which the third and fourth touch the eye. The [[loreal scale]] is present. It has 170–175 [[ventral scales]], which are yellow with brown smearing on their edges, and 46–47 [[subcaudal scales]]. The pattern on the dorsum (underside of the body) consists of black bands that are 1–2 dorsal scales wide and edged with yellow. It has a total of 48–54 bands. The [[hemipenis]] is forked and spiny all over.<ref name=":0" /><br />
[[File:Oligodon churahensis habitat.png|alt=rocky mountain with scattered shrubs|thumb|Habitat at the type locality of the Churah Valley kukri snake]]<br />
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== Distribution ==<br />
The species is known only from the Churah Valley in Himachal Pradesh.<ref name=":0" /> <br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}{{Taxonbar|from=Q109650333}}<br />
[[Category:Oligodon|churahensis]]<br />
[[Category:Snakes of India]]<br />
[[Category:Snakes of Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Reptiles described in 2021]]</div>StaciWinslow