Taxonomic reassessment of Achalinus jinggangensis (Zong & Ma, 1983) (Serpentes, Xenodermidae), with description of a new species from Zhejiang Province, China Author Xu, Yuhao 0000-0001-6094-6680 State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China Author Hu, Jiahao https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5155-4307 Linhai Lingjiang Middle School, Linhai 317099, Zhejiang, China Author Qi, Shuo 0000-0002-2924-6093 School of Ecology / School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China Author Ma, Shun https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8611-4550 China-Croatia Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610213, Sichuan, China & University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China Author Chen, Haojun Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, Hubei, China Author Zhang, Tierui https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1869-9313 The Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Security in the Yangtze River Basin, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, Anhui, China Author Zhang, Yunfei Conversation and Research Center for Collections, Shanghai Natural History Museum, Branch of Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai 200041, China Author Sun, Fanyue State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China Author Zhou, Jiajun 0000-0003-1038-1540 Zhejiang Forest Resource Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310020, Zhejiang, China Author Xu, Jinan https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1930-8432 Zhejiang Forest Resource Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310020, Zhejiang, China Author Wang, Yingyong 0000-0003-2024-6641 School of Ecology / School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China Author Peng, Lifang 0000-0001-9325-7048 State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China text Zoosystematics and Evolution 2026 2026-03-02 102 2 387 409 journal article 314363 10.3897/zse.102.183453 49ed98d3-71d3-4112-9a8a-00a710afeb0b 43143A37-9C6E-4D07-9998-32194E3C17BE

Table 4. Comparison of main morphological characters between Achalinus mirabilis sp. nov. and A. jinggangensis. Refer to the Materials and methods for abbreviations of morphological characters. Bold text indicates interspecific diagnostic characters that can be used to distinguish among species.

Specimen	A. mirabilis sp. nov.		A. jinggangensis
Sex	♂	♀	♂	♀
N	2	4	8	8
Source	This study	This study	This study	This study
SVL max	270	332	278	360
TAL / TL	0.22	0.17–0.18	0.23–0.25	0.16–0.24
HW / HL	0.52 – 0.53	0.42–0.47	0.40–0.53	0.34–0.58
LSBI / SLBP	1.60 – 3.35		1.17–2.81
LSBI vs. LSBP	>		>
MT	–	27	–	28 or 29
SL	6		6
IL	6		5–7
Chin	2		2, rarely 3
IL - 1 st Chin	3 or 4		3 or 4 (rarely 5)
LOR	0		0
TEMP	2 + 2 + 3 or 4		2 + 2 + 3 or 4, rarely 1 + 1 + 3 or 1 + 4
aTEMP-Eye	2		2, rarely 1
DSR	23-23 - 23		23-23 - 23
K 1 DSR	Distinctly keeled		Smooth
VS	163–166	174–178	147–155	152–168
SC	64 – 68	53–56	63–72	45–52
VS + SC	227 – 234	227–233	210–225	203–218
CP	1		1
Dorsal coloration in life or fresh specimen	Dark brown with a slight metallic sheen	Brown with a slight metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen
Ventral coloration in life or fresh specimen	Uniform light brown	Uniform light brown	Black	Black or deep blackish brown