A new species of the Hebius atemporalis complex (Squamata, Natricidae) from southeastern Yunnan, China

A new species of the Hebius atemporalis complex is described from Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, based on morphological and molecular evidence. The new species can be distinguished from other species of the complex by the differences in the ratio of tail length to total length, the number of ventral and subcaudal scales, the number of maxillary teeth, and the coloration of the iris and anterior body. Phylogenetically, the new species is separated from other species of the complex by an uncorrected p-distance of 6.0–7.8 % in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene.

This study further highlights the cryptic diversity in the H. atemporalis complex and the need to re-examine previous records of H. atemporalis and specimens previously considered H. atemporalis from central-southern China, as well as northeastern Vietnam.