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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Genus of snakes}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}<br />
{{Speciesbox<br />
| name = Keeled vine snake<br />
| fossil_range = [[Oligocene]]-[[Holocene]], {{Fossil range|26.57|0|ref=<ref name="Mallik2019"/>}}<br />
| image = ProahaetullaAntiqua.png<br />
| display_parents = 2<br />
| genus = Proahaetulla<br />
| parent_authority = Mallik, Achyuthan, Ganesh, Pal, Vijayakumar & Shanker, 2019<br />
| species = antiqua<br />
| authority = Mallik, Achyuthan, Ganesh, Pal, Vijayakumar & Shanker, 2019<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''''Proahaetulla''''' is a [[monotypic]] [[genus]] of vine [[snake]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Colubridae]]. It contains only one [[species]], the '''keeled vine snake''' ('''''Proahaetulla antiqua'''''), which is [[Endemism|endemic]] to the [[Western Ghats]] of [[India]]. Its natural habitat is [[South Western Ghats montane rain forests|montane rainforests of southern Western Ghats]].<ref name="Mallik2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Mallik |first1=Ashok Kumar |last2=Achyuthan |first2=N. Srikanthan |last3=Ganesh |first3=Sumaithangi R. |last4=Pal |first4=Saunak P. |last5=Vijayakumar |first5=S. P. |last6=Shanker |first6=Kartik |date=27 July 2019 |title=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 |journal=[[PLOS ONE]] |language=en |volume=14 |issue=7 |article-number=e0218851 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0218851 |pmid=31314800 |pmc=6636718 |issn=1932-6203 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1418851M |doi-access=free}}</ref><br />
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==Discovery==<br />
The species was first discovered in 2011, when an individual was found in the [[Pothigai|Agasthyamalai Hills]] of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Kerala]]. It was initially thought to be a new species of ''[[Ahaetulla]]'', as it looked very similar to the species ''[[Ahaetulla dispar]]''.<ref name="ResearchMatters">{{Cite web|date=2019-07-24|title=Researchers discover a new species of vine snake from the Western Ghats that dates back 26 million years|url=https://researchmatters.in/news/researchers-discover-new-species-vine-snake-western-ghats-dates-back-26-million-years|access-date=2020-12-25|website=Research Matters|language=en}}</ref> However, genetic analyses found it to be deeply divergent from any member in the genus ''Ahaetulla'', so it was classified in its own genus. Both the genus and species were ultimately [[scientific description|described]] in 2019.<ref name="Mallik2019"/><br />
<br />
==Etymology==<br />
The [[genus]] name ''Proahaetulla'' indicates the early divergence from ''[[Ahaetulla]]''. The [[species]] name ''antiqua'' is [[Latin]] for "antique" or "old", referencing the relatively old evolutionary divergence of the [[taxon]].<ref name="Mallik2019"/><br />
<br />
==Taxonomy==<br />
''Proahaetulla'' is considered to be the [[sister taxon]] to the genus ''[[Ahaetulla]]'', which it diverged from an estimated 26.57 million years ago, during the mid-[[Oligocene]].<ref name="Mallik2019"/> Due to its age, ''Proahaetulla'' may be one of the oldest monotypic lineages of snakes to still persist in the Western Ghats. ''Proahaetulla'' is also the first deeply divergent snake genus to be described from the Western Ghats in over a century; numerous Indian snake species have had new genera created to reclassify them from the genera they were originally classified in, but ''Proahaetulla'' is completely new, possibly having never been encountered by science prior to its description as a new genus and species.<ref name="Mallik2019"/><ref name="ResearchMatters"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/india-adds-a-new-snake-to-the-list|title=India adds a new snake to the list|website=Cosmos Magazine|date=August 2019|language=en|access-date=2019-08-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/science/news/indian-researchers-discover-a-new-species-of-vine-snakes-in-western-ghats-1564417683310.html|title=Indian researchers discover a new species of vine snakes in Western Ghats|last=Choudhary|first=Srishti|date=2019-07-29|website=www.livemint.com|language=en|access-date=2019-08-05}}</ref><br />
<br />
''Proahaetulla'' belongs to the vine snake [[subfamily]] [[Ahaetuliinae]], and its relationships to many of the other species within Ahaetuliinae can be shown in the [[cladogram]] below, with possibly [[paraphyletic]] species noted:<ref name="Mallik2019"/><br />
{{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%<br />
|label1=[[Ahaetuliinae]]<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|label1=sharp-nosed snakes<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|label1=''[[Ahaetulla]]''<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Ahaetulla prasina]]'' (paraphyletic)<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla fasciolata]]'' }}<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla prasina]]'' (paraphyletic) }}<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Ahaetulla prasina]]'' (paraphyletic)<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla mycterizans]]'' }} }}<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla prasina]]'' (paraphyletic) }}<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Ahaetulla anomala]]''<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla pulverulenta]]'' }}<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla nasuta]]'' (paraphyletic) }}<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla nasuta]]'' (paraphyletic) }}<br />
|2=''[[Ahaetulla fronticincta]]'' }} }}<br />
|2='''''Proahaetulla antiqua''''' }}<br />
|label2=''[[Dryophiops]]''<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Dryophiops rubescens]]''<br />
|2=''[[Dryophiops philippina]]'' }} }}<br />
|label2=broad-nosed snakes<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|label1=''[[Dendrelaphis]]''<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Dendrelaphis marenae]]''<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis haasi]]'' }}<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis pictus]]'' }}<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Dendrelaphis ngansonensis]]''<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis cyanochloris]]'' }}<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis striatus]]'' }} }}<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis formosus]]'' }}<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Dendrelaphis tristis]]''<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis subocularis]]'' }}<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis schokari]]'' }}<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Dendrelaphis fuliginosus]]''<br />
|2=''[[Dendrelaphis caudolineatus]]'' }} }} }}<br />
|label2=''[[Chrysopelea]]''<br />
|2={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1={{clade<br />
|1=''[[Chrysopelea paradisi]]''<br />
|2=''[[Chrysopelea ornata]]'' }}<br />
|2=''[[Chrysopelea pelias]]'' }}<br />
|2=''[[Chrysopelea taprobanica]]'' }} }} }} }}<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
''Proahaetulla antiqua'' is bright green, with a lighter green or creamish yellow belly, and a creamish yellow [[ventral]] stripe. The [[holotype]] had a total body length of {{convert|111.3|cm|in|abbr=on}}, with a very slender and partially laterally compressed body. It has a fine-pointed snout and near-[[binocular vision]], with horizontally elliptical [[pupil]]s in its eyes. It is very similar in appearance to ''[[Ahaetulla dispar]]''.<ref name="Mallik2019"/><br />
<br />
==Distribution and habitat==<br />
It is a diurnal and arboreal species found in the high elevation [[rainforest]]s of the far south of the [[Western Ghats]].<ref name="Mallik2019"/><br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q95106010|from2=Q84156843}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Ahaetuliinae]]<br />
[[Category:Snakes of Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Snakes of India]]<br />
[[Category:Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats]]<br />
[[Category:Endemic reptiles of India]]<br />
[[Category:Reptiles described in 2019]]<br />
[[Category:Monotypic snake genera]]</div>Rajeev067