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 2. Main morphological characteristics of Achalinus jinggangensis obtained from specimens examined in this study. All measurements are in mm, the abbreviations of morphological characters are defined in the Materials and Methods section. Notes: ♀ / ♂ = adult females / males, J ♀ / ♂ = juvenile females / males.

Specimen	SMNH 82 X 188	SYS r 000715	SYS r 002439	SYS r 002574	SYS r 002579	SYS r 002703	QHU R 2023011	QHU R 2024053	Range	SMNH 82 X 004	SYS r 000311	SYS r 000313	SYS r 000829	SYS r 000830	SYS r 002575	QHU R 2024057	QHU R 2025050	Range
Type	Holotype	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		Paratype	Topotype	Topotype	–	–	–	–	–
Location	Jinggangshan, Ji’an, Jiangxi	Yanling, Zhuzhou, Hunan	Yizhang, Chenzhou, Hunan	Ruyuan, Shaoguan Guangdong	Chaozhou, Guangdong	Yangshan, Qingyuan, Guangdong	Datian, Sanming, Fujian	Datian, Sanming, Fujian	–	Jinggangshan, Ji’an, Jiangxi	Suichuan, Ji’an, Jiangxi	Suichuan, Ji’an, Jiangxi	Yanling, Zhuzhou, Hunan	Yanling, Zhuzhou, Hunan	Renhua, Shaoguan, Guangdong	Yangshan, Qingyuan, Guangdong	Ganzhou, Jiangxi	–
Sex	♀	♀	♀	♀	J ♀	♀	♀	♀	♀	♂	♂	♂	♂	♂	♂	♂	J ♂	♂
SVL	360	310	243	263	117	300	391	213	117–360	278	270	255	214	220	256	245	141	141–278
TAL	80	59	51	60	37	63	53 +	44	37–80	85	80 +	81	72	68	82	82	41	41–85
TL	440	369	294	323	154	363	444 +	257	154–440	363	350 +	336	286	288	338	327	182	182–363
TAL / TL	0.18	0.16	0.17	0.19	0.24	0.17	–	0.17	0.16–0.24	0.23	–	0.24	0.25	0.24	0.24	0.25	0.23	0.23–0.25
HL	14.23	12.13	10.42	10.39	8.22	11.60	15.44	10.54	8.22–14.23	11.70	11.55	11.40	9.48	9.59	11.04	10.14	8.51	8.51–11.70
HW	8.31	6.57	5.02	4.80	3.53	5.37	6.03	3.60	3.60–8.31	5.92	6.07	4.58	4.89	4.73	5.88	5.06	3.87	3.87–6.07
HW / HL	0.58	0.54	0.48	0.46	0.43	0.46	0.39	0.34	0.34–0.58	0.51	0.53	0.40	0.52	0.49	0.53	0.50	0.45	0.40–0.53
ED	1.50	1.12	1.08	1.13	1.24	1.19	1.16	0.93	0.93–1.50	1.29	1.14	1.05	1.22	1.13	1.11	1.03	0.75	0.75–1.29
INS	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
LSBI	1.76	2.17	1.30	1.32	1.20	1.56	2.22	1.83	1.20–2.22	1.59	2.03	1.50	1.47	2.08	1.62	1.62	1.35	1.35–2.08
PF	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
LSBP	0.88	0.80	0.89	1.13	0.55	1.02	1.40	0.97	0.80–1.40	0.96	0.93	1.17	1.06	0.74	1.10	0.92	0.91	0.74–1.17
LSBI / SLBP	2.00	2.71	1.46	1.17	2.18	1.53	1.59	1.89	1.17–2.71	1.66	2.18	1.28	1.39	2.81	1.47	1.76	1.48	1.28–2.81
LSBI vs. LSBP	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
F	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
FW	2.42	2.98	2.20	2.13	2.38	2.51	3.31	2.44	2.13–3.31	2.25	2.87	2.68	2.08	2.28	2.62	2.51	2.11	2.08–2.87
FL	2.67	2.65	1.99	1.87	1.93	2.28	3.15	2.07	1.87–3.15	2.17	2.43	2.51	2.15	2.11	2.35	2.29	1.52	1.52–2.51
FW / FL	0.91	1.12	1.11	1.14	1.23	1.10	1.05	1.18	0.91–1.23	1.04	1.18	1.07	0.97	1.08	1.11	1.10	1.39	0.97–1.39
MT	–	–	–	–	–	–	28	–	28	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
SPO	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
SL	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6
IL	6 / 6	5 / 5	6 / 6	5 / 5	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	5 or 6	6 / 6	7 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	7 / 6	6 or 7
Chin	2 / 3	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2, rarely 3	3 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2, rarely 3
IL - 1 st Chin	4 / 4	3 / 3	4 / 4	3 / 3	4 / 4	4 / 4	3 / 3	3 / 3	3 or 4	4 / 4	5 / 4	4 / 4	3 / 3	4 / 4	4 / 4	4 / 4	5 / 4	3–5
LOR	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0
TEMP	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 4 / 2 + 2 + 4	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 4	1 + 1 + 3 / 1 + 4	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 4 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 3 or 4, rarely 1 + 1 + 3 or 1 + 4	2 + 2 + 4 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 +? +? / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 4 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 4	2 + 2 + 4 / 2 + 3 + 4	2 + 2 + 3 / 2 + 2 + 3	2 + 2 + 3 or 4
aTEMP-Eye	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	1 / 1	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2, rarely 1	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2 / 2	2
DSR	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23	23-23 - 23
K 1 DSR	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth	Smooth
VS	161 + 2	160 + 2	157 + 2	157 + 2	152 + 2	157 + 2	166 + 2	168 + 2	152–168	153 + 2	148 + 2	147 + 2	152 + 2	150 + 2	153 + 2	152 + 2	155 + 2	147–155
SC	50	45	47	52	51	50	32 +	50	45–52	64	59 +	63	65	64	72	63	65	63–72
VS + SC	211	205	204	209	203	207	198 +	218	203–218	217	207 +	210	217	214	225	215	220	210–225
CP	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Dorsal coloration in life	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	–	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	Black with a metallic sheen	–
Ventral coloration in life	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black	Deep blackish brown	Black, slightly paler anteriorly	–	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black, slightly paler anteriorly	Black, slightly paler anteriorly	–