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First Record of the Variable Racer, Platyceps Variabilis (Boulenger, 1905), for Saudi Arabia

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First Record of the Variable Racer, Platyceps Variabilis (Boulenger, 1905), for Saudi Arabia Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 973-975 (2020) (published online on 26 November 2020) First record of the Variable Racer, Platyceps variabilis (Boulenger, 1905), for Saudi Arabia Abdulhadi Aloufi1, Mohammad Adnan Abu Baker2, and Zuhair Sami Amr3,* Although the snake fauna of Saudi Arabia was studied Al Fegrah is well-known for its mountains mainly extensively over the past 40 years (Al-Sadoon, 1969; Jabal Al Ash’ar and Jabal Al Arad. The former is named Farag and Banaja, 1980; Gasperetti, 1988; Schätti and after “the hair” in relation to the presence of dense Gasperetti, 1994; Egan, 2007; Aloufi and Amr, 2015; juniper trees (Juniperus phoenicea), while the later Alshammari et al., 2017), still, new additions to the mountain is called “the arid” because it is void of plants snakes were recently reported (Aloufi et al., in press). or greenery. Al Fegrah rises at an altitude reaching Perhaps this is due to the large area of the country and 1,901 m a.s.l. with moderate climate in the summer the presence of variable habitats (Aloufi et al., 2019). and low temperatures in the winter. The wadi consists Platyceps variabilis was originally described from of granite rocky outcrops with scattered vegetation, El Kubar, Yemen, by Boulenger (1905). He described notably Acacia sp. (Fig. 2). Soon after receiving the seven different colour morphs with remarkable photo, one of the authors (AA) visited the area but no variations. Further specimens were collected from further specimens were found. However, other reptiles Yemen; Yemen (Scortecci, 1932), Jabal Harir (Parker, were encountered including; Atractaspis engaddensis 1941) and Sokna (Spano, 1973). Ever since, no further specimens were collected except the record from Oman by Šmíd (2010). A photo taken by Fuad Al Ahmady in 2019 from Wadi Al Khanour, Al Fegrah (24.3074872 °N, 38.9691489 °E), Al Madinah Al Monawrah Province, Saudi Arabia, was sent to one of authors (AA). The specimen very much resembles the morph described by Boulenger (1905) as “scales brown or black, with yellowish or pale olive centers; ventral and subcaudals shields whitish, edged with brown or blackish; head olive grey in front, black behind” and almost identical to the image depicted by Šmíd (2010) from Oman. Unfortunately, we were unable to examine the specimen for scale counts, since it was killed and destroyed after it was photographed (Fig. 1). 1 Department of Biology, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al- Munawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 2 Department of Biology, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. 3 Department of Biology, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Figure 1. Platyceps variabilis from Al Fegrah, Saudi Arabia. 974 Abdulhadi Aloufi et al. schokari (Forskål 1775), Pseudotrapelus sinaitus (Heyden, 1827), Sclerophrys arabica (Heyden, 1827) and Uromastyx ornatus Heyden, 1827. Although Masood (2012) and Masood and Asiry (2012) reported on the snakes of Jazan and Asir regions (both located on the Red Sea mountains close to Yemen), no records for P. variabilis were confirmed. The present record expands the distribution range of P. variabilis further north along the Red Sea mountains more than 1,200 km north from the type locality, and represents the first record for Saudi Arabia (Fig. 3). It seems that P. variabilis is a mountainous species inhabiting high altitudes along the Red Sea mountains as suggested from the collecting sites in Yemen (Gasperetti, 1988). Figure 2. Habitat of Wadi Al Khanour, Al Fegrah. Schätti et al. (2014) referred to several species of the genus Platyceps (P. sinai, P. insulanus, and P. variabilis) with distribution extending along the Jordan Haas, 1950, Chamaeleo chamaeleon orientalis Parker, Rift, Red Sea Mountains reaching as far as southern 1938, Chalcides ocellatus (Forskål 1775), Echis Tihama to Dhofar to belong to the florulentus complex. coloratus Günther, 1878, Naja arabica Scortecci, Furthermore, Schätti et al. (2014) considered P. 1932, Platyceps rhodarchis (Jan, 1863), Sparlerosophis insulanus, P. manseri and P. thomasi to be conspecific diadema cliffordii (Schlegel, 1837), Psammophis with P. variabilis. Šmíd (2010) found this species along Figure 3. Map of the Arabian Peninsula showing the distribution of P. variabilis. Green circles: previous records. Red circle: New records from Al Fegrah, Saudi Arabia. First record of the Variable Racer for Saudi Arabia 975 with P. thomasi in Oman. Similar views concluded that Egan, D. (2007): Snakes of Arabia. A Field Guide to the Snakes the florulentus complex includes several Afro-Arab of the Arabian Peninsula and its Shores. Dubai. International taxa, including P. variabilis (Velenská, 2019). Printing Press. Farag, A.A., Banaja, A.A. (1980): Amphibians and reptiles from More field surveys along the Red Sea Mountains the western region of Saudi Arabia. Bulletin of Science of King may yield additional specimens. Further studies at the Abdul Aziz University 4: 5–29. molecular level should be undertaken to reveal the Gasperetti, J. (1988): Snakes of Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 9: identity of the colour morphs of this variable species. 169–450. Masood, M.F., Asiry, A.A. (2012): Ecological studies on diversity Acknowledgments. We express our gratitude to Prof. Jiří Šmíd of Herpetofauna in Asir region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. and Prof. David Modrý for confirming the identity of the species. Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, Zoology B Appreciations are extended to Mr. Fuad Al Ahmady for providing 4: 143–163. the photo of P. variabilis. Masood, M.F. (2012): Ecological distribution of snakes’ fauna of Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. Egyptian Academic Journal of References Biological Sciences, Zoology B 4: 183–197. Parker, H.W. (1941): Reptiles and amphibians. British Musuem Aloufi, A.A., Amr, Z.S., Abu Baker, M.A., Hamidan, N. (2019): (Natural History) Expedition to S. W. Arabia, 1937-8, 1: 3–6. Diversity and conservation of terrestrial, freshwater and marine Schätti, B., Tillack, F., Kucharzewsk, C. (2014): Platyceps reptiles and amphibians in Saudi Arabia. Amphibian & Reptile rhodorachis (Jan, 1863) – a study of the racer genus Platyceps Conservation 13: 181–202. Blyth, 1860 east of the Tigris (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae). Aloufi, A.A., Amr, Z.S. (2015): On the herpetofauna of the Province Vertebrate Zoology 64: 297–405 of Tabuk, northwest Saudi Arabia (Amphibia, Reptilia). Scortecci, G. (1932): Rettili dello Yemen. Atti della Societa Italiana Herpetozoa 27: 147–158. di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Aloufi, A.A., Amr, Z.S., Abu Baker, M.A. (in press): Reptiles Milano 71: 39–49. and Amphibians of Al Madinah Al Monawrah Province, Saudi Šmíd, J. (2010): New remarkable snake records from Oman. Arabia. Russian Journal of Herpetology. Herpetology Notes 3: 329–332. Al-Sadoon, M.K. (1989): Survey of the reptilian fauna of the Spano, S. (1973): Missioni Scortecci nell’Arabia meridionale kingdom of Saudi Arabia I – the snake fauna of the central (1962-1965): Leptotyphlopidae e Colubridae (Ophidia). region. Journal of King Saud University – Science 1: 53–69. Bollettino dei Musei e degli Istituti Biologici dell’Universita di Alshammari, A.H., Busais, S.M., Ibrahim, A.A. (2017): Snakes in Genova 40: 131–135. the Province of Ha’il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including two Velenská, D. (2019): Phylogeny and biogeography of whip snakes new records. Herpetozoa 30: 59–63. of the genus Platyceps (Squamata, Colubridae). Bachelor thesis, Boulenger, G.A. (1905): Descriptions of three new snakes Charles University, Faculty of Natural Science, Praha. 36 pp. discovered in South Arabia by Mr. G.W. Bury. Annals and [In Czech]. Magazine of Natural History 7: 178–180. Accepted by Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani.
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