Dataset Information

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.

ABSTRACT: The Western Ghats are well known as a biodiversity hotspot, but the full extent of its snake diversity is yet to be uncovered. Here, we describe a new genus and species of vine snake Proahaetulla antiqua gen. et sp. nov., from the Agasthyamalai hills in the southern Western Ghats. It was found to be a member of the Ahaetuliinae clade, which currently comprises the arboreal snake genera Ahaetulla, Dryophiops, Dendrelaphis and Chrysopelea, distributed in South and Southeast Asia. Proahaetulla shows a sister relationship with all currently known taxa belonging to the genus Ahaetulla, and shares ancestry with Dryophiops. In addition to its phylogenetic position and significant genetic divergence, this new taxon is also different in morphology from members of Ahaetuliinae in a combination of characters, having 12-13 partially serrated keels on the dorsal scale rows, 20 maxillary teeth and 3 postocular scales. Divergence dating reveals that the new genus is ancient, dating back to the Mid-Oligocene, and is one of the oldest persisting monotypic lineages of snakes in the Western Ghats. This discovery adds to the growing list of ancient lineages endemic to the Agasthyamalai hills and underscores the biogeographic significance of this isolated massif in the southern Western Ghats.

SUBMITTER: Mallik AK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6636718 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

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.

Mallik Ashok Kumar AK Achyuthan N Srikanthan NS Ganesh Sumaithangi R SR Pal Saunak P SP Vijayakumar S P SP Shanker Kartik K

PloS one 20190717 7

The Western Ghats are well known as a biodiversity hotspot, but the full extent of its snake diversity is yet to be uncovered. Here, we describe a new genus and species of vine snake Proahaetulla antiqua gen. et sp. nov., from the Agasthyamalai hills in the southern Western Ghats. It was found to be a member of the Ahaetuliinae clade, which currently comprises the arboreal snake genera Ahaetulla, Dryophiops, Dendrelaphis and Chrysopelea, distributed in South and Southeast Asia. Proahaetulla show ...[more]

PMID: 31314800

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Project description:Four novel strains were isolated: PWU4T and PWU20T were both from soil in Germany, PWU5T was isolated from soil in India and PWU37T was obtained from sheep faeces collected on the Island of Crete. Cells of each were observed to be Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, rod shaped, and to grow optimally between 28 and 34 °C, between pH 7.0 and 8.0 and without the addition of NaCl. The strains were found to be catalase and oxidase-negative and able to grow on most mono- and disaccharides, a few polysaccharides and organic acids. Their predominant menaquinone was identified as MK-7. Their major fatty acids were identified as C16:1 ω7c (PWU4T and PWU20T) and C16:1 ω5c (PWU5T and PWU37T). The DNA G + C contents of strains PWU4T, PWU20T, PWU5T and PWU37T were determined to be 50.2 mol%, 51.6 mol %, 39.8 mol% and 53.8 mol%, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the close relatives Ohtaekwangia koreensis 3B-2T and Ohtaekwangia kribbensis 10AOT share less than 93.8% sequence similarity. The strains were classified in two groups, where PWU4T and PWU20T share 93.0% sequence similarity, and PWU5T and PWU37T share 97.5% sequence similarity. However, the members of each group were concluded to represent different species based on the low average nucleotide identity (ANI) of their genomes, 69.7% and 83.8%, respectively. We propose that the four strains represent four novel species of two new genera in the family Cytophagaceae. The type species of the novel genus Chryseosolibacter is Chryseosolibacter histidini gen. nov., sp. nov. with the type strain PWU4T (= DSM 111594T = NCCB 100798T), whilst strain PWU20T (= DSM 111597T = NCCB 100800T) is the type strain of a second species, Chryseosolibacter indicus sp. nov. The type species of the novel genus Dawidia is Dawidia cretensis gen. nov., sp. nov. with the type strain PWU5T (= DSM 111596T = NCCB 100799T), whilst strain PWU37T (= DSM 111595T = NCCB 100801T) is the type stain of a second species, Dawidia soli sp. nov.

Dataset Information

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.

Publications

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.

Similar Datasets

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