1,528 research outputs found
Implication of variable characters for the taxonomy of Altiphylax stoliczkai (Steindachner, 1867) and Altiphylax yarkandensis (Anderson, 1872) (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) with comments on the ZSI ' syntype' of the latter taxon'
No full textBag, Probhat (2017): Implication of variable characters for the taxonomy of Altiphylax stoliczkai (Steindachner, 1867) and Altiphylax yarkandensis (Anderson, 1872) (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) with comments on the ZSI ' syntype' of the latter taxon'. Zootaxa 4320 (1): 183-192, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4320.1.1
A contribution to the systematics of Salea anamallayana (Beddome, 1878) and S. horsfieldii Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae)
No full textDas, Sunandan, Campbell, Patrick D., Deuti, Kaushik, Bag, Probhat, Raha, Sujoy (2019): A contribution to the systematics of Salea anamallayana (Beddome, 1878) and S. horsfieldii Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae). Zootaxa 4563 (3): 563-583, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4563.3.
FIGURE 4. A in Description of a new species of genus Trachischium with a redescription of Trachischium fuscum (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae)
No full textFIGURE 4. A. Lectotype of Trachischium fuscum (ZSI7044), B. Anomalous ventrals of a T. fuscum (ZSI7059), C. Nine eggs in a specimen of Trachischium fuscum (ZSI19120)Published as part of Raha, Sujoy, Das, Sunandan, Bag, Probhat, Debnath, Sudipta & Pramanick, Kousik, 2018, Description of a new species of genus Trachischium with a redescription of Trachischium fuscum (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae), pp. 549-561 in Zootaxa 4370 (5) on page 554, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4370.5.6, http://zenodo.org/record/114735
A study on Ptyas doriae (Boulenger, 1888) with comments on the status of Ptyas hamptoni (Boulenger, 1900) (Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae)
No full textMeetei, Asem Bipin, Das, Sunandan, Campbell, Patrick D., Raha, Sujoy, Bag, Probhat (2018): A study on Ptyas doriae (Boulenger, 1888) with comments on the status of Ptyas hamptoni (Boulenger, 1900) (Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae). Zootaxa 4457 (4): 537-548, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4457.4.
Trachischium sushantai Raha & Das & Bag & Debnath & Pramanick 2018, sp. nov.
No full textTrachischium sushantai sp. nov. (Figures 1, 2) Holotype. ZSI25651 A, National Zoological Collection, ZSI, Kolkata; adult female; from ‘ Jammu’ (Jammu & Kashmir state, India); collected on 4th August, 1993, during Jammu survey; name of collector is given in register as ‘ Rajtilok’. Diagnosis. Trachischium sushantai sp. nov. can be diagnosed by a combination of the following characters: a single nasal and PF, SL (R/L) 6/6, post-ocular 1, DSCH:M: V 13:13:13; VEN 152; SC 23 pairs of which those on anterior half of tail are as long as wide and regular hexagon/ rhomboid shaped, TAL/TL ratio of 0.11, head and dorsum uniform dark brown, venter brown with cream or yellow border on the trailing edges of VEN and SC. Etymology. The new species is named after Sushanta Kumar Das, father of the second author of present paper. He is an enthusiastic nature observer who have spent a significant amount of time of his life in forested areas of West Bengal (India) and nurtured the same interest in the second author. The specific epithet, a patronym, is a noun in genitive case. Description of holotype. Adult female; incised on underside; SVL and TAL of 276 mm and 35 mm respectively; tail small, TAL /TL ratio being only 0.11; head small (HL 7.8 mm, 2.8 % of SVL); head width (HW 4.7 mm) greater than head height (HH 4.2 mm); head indistinct from neck; eye small (ED 1 mm, 12.8 % of HL); ESN 2.9 mm; rostral slightly wider than high (1.1 mm and 0.8 mm, respectively); internasals paired, much shorter than the single PF; frontal pentagonal, 2.8 mm long, longer than its distance from the posterior edge of rostral (1.9 mm), around two and half times wider than supraocular; parietals, being 4.4 mm long, are longer than frontal; 1 pre- and 1 post-ocular; loreal nearly twice wider than high and is in contact with nasal, internasal, frontal, preocular and 1 st and 2nd SL; very small nostril in single forward directed nasal; SL (R/L) 6/6, 1 st smallest and 6th largest, 3rd and 4th touching eye; IL (R/L) 6/6, 1st, 2nd and 3rd IL touch the anterior genial while the 4th one contacts both the anterior and posterior genials; anterior genials longer than posterior genials; TEMP (R/L) 1+2/1+2; maxillary teeth in life were probably around 16 or 17 (counting for missing teeth which were evident by longer than usual gaps between extant teeth at some places), subequal; dorsal scales smooth, including those around the region of the tail base, DSCH:M: V 13:13:13; VEN 152; anal divided; SC 23 pairs, anterior subcaudals (those on anterior half of tail) are as wide as long (4SCW/L 1.05 and 5SCW/L 1.01), regular hexagonal or rhomboid shaped, SC become slightly wider than long on posterior part of tail; tail tip in a spike like scale. Coloration in preservative: head and dorsum uniform dark brown; edges of scales on lower jaw lighter colored; venter brown with outeredges of VEN cream or dirty yellow; underside of tail light brown with the posterior edges of SC bordered with lighter yellowish cream. Comparisons. T. sushantai sp. nov. differs from T. monticola in possessing 13 rows of dorsal scales (vs. 15 rows in the latter), undivided PF (vs. divided PF in T. monticola), 1 post-ocular (vs. usually 2 in the latter) and 152 VEN (vs. less than 125 VEN in T. monticola [Smith 1943])(Table 2). T. sushantai sp. nov. differs from T. leave in having 6 SL, 1 PF, 23 SC and a brown venter (vs. 5 SL, 2 PF, 29– 39 SC and a yellow venter in T. leave). T. sushantai sp. nov. can be diagnosed from T. tenuiceps by having a shorter tail (TAL /TL 0.11), 1 PF, 1 postocular, 23 SC of which the anterior ones are regular hexagonal or rhomboid and a brown venter (vs. TAL /TL 0.15– 0.18, 2 PF and 2 post-oculars, 28–42 SC of which anterior ones are transversely elongated and yellowish or orange ventral coloration in T. tenuiceps). T. sushantai sp. nov. differs from T. guentheri by having a brown venter and 23 pairs of SC (vs. a coral red venter in T. guentheri and SC more than 30 in T. guentheri [Smith 1943]). The new species most closely resembles T. fuscum from which it can be distinguished by its shorter tail (TAL / TL 0.11) compared to T. fuscum (vs. TAL /TL 0.13–0.18 [± 0.14 in 27 specimens] in T. fuscum), 23 pairs of SC of which anterior ones are regular hexagonal/rhomboid with 4SCW/L 1.05 and 5SCW/L 1.01 (vs. 30–44 SC in T. fuscum [31–41 in females examined by us], SC wider than long and are not regular hexagonal/rhomboid with 4SCW/L 1.33–3 [± 1.6 in 22 specimens] and 5SCW/L 1.27–2.7 [± 1.6 in 21 specimens] in physically examined specimens [specimens of T. fuscum examined from photographs too had SC number within the range given here and were distinctly wider than long]). Distribution. Trachischium sushantai sp. nov. is currently known only from its type locality in Jammu (Jammu & Kahmir, India) (Figure 3). Natural history. Unknown.Published as part of Raha, Sujoy, Das, Sunandan, Bag, Probhat, Debnath, Sudipta & Pramanick, Kousik, 2018, Description of a new species of genus Trachischium with a redescription of Trachischium fuscum (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae), pp. 549-561 in Zootaxa 4370 (5) on pages 550-553, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4370.5.6, http://zenodo.org/record/114735
Ptyas doriae
No full textRedescription of Ptyas doriae (Boulenger, 1888) The original description of Ptyas doriae (as Cyclophiops doriae) by Boulenger (1888) was brief and based on two specimens only. Also, a lack of knowledge of intrapopulational variation at the time probably led to the recognition of NHML 1946.1.5.32 as belonging to adifferent species by Boulenger (1900). Subsequent treatments (e.g. Pope 1935; Smith 1943) of this species were also very brief. Hence, a thorough redescription including an account of intrapopulational variation in lepidosis and colour description of this species is necessary. Here we provide a redescription based on our material (Appendix 1).Published as part of Meetei, Asem Bipin, Das, Sunandan, Campbell, Patrick D., Raha, Sujoy & Bag, Probhat, 2018, A study on Ptyas doriae (Boulenger, 1888) with comments on the status of Ptyas hamptoni (Boulenger, 1900) (Squamata: Colubridae: Colubrinae), pp. 537-548 in Zootaxa 4457 (4) on page 539, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4457.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/145801
Salea anamallayana
No full textComparison between Salea anamallayana and S. horsfieldii Traditionally Salea anamllayana and S. horsfieldii have been distinguished from each other by the following combination of characters—continuous nuchal and dorsal crest, unequal dorsal scales and ante-humeral fold in S. anamallayana (vs. nuchal and dorsal discontinuous, equal dorsal scales and no ante-humeral fold in S. horsfieldii) (Smith 1935). We observed some other differences which may serve as diagnostic differences enabling us to differentiate between the two especially if the state of aforesaid characters could not be determined in partially damaged specimens of this genus. The gular scales of S. horsfieldii are strongly keeled and mucronate while these are either smooth or weakly keeled and never mucronate in S. anamallayana. The nasal scale contacts 1 st and 2 nd supralabials in S. horsfieldii but generally only the 1 st supralabial touches the nasal in S. anamallayana. S. horsfieldii has between 43–59 longitudinal rows of ventral scales, whilst S. anamallayana has between 57–84. Though CL/SVL helps to distinguish the two taxa to some extent, morphometrics alone is not sufficient for the purposes of identification.Published as part of Das, Sunandan, Campbell, Patrick D., Deuti, Kaushik, Bag, Probhat & Raha, Sujoy, 2019, A contribution to the systematics of Salea anamallayana (Beddome, 1878) and S. horsfieldii Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae), pp. 563-583 in Zootaxa 4563 (3) on page 576, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4563.3.9, http://zenodo.org/record/260148
Salea jerdonii Gray 1846
No full textSystematic status of Salea jerdonii Gray (1846) described Salea jerdonii based on two specimens sent in by T. C. Jerdon. Both specimens were males and therefore had the characteristic nuchal and dorsal crests which led Gray to think that these two specimens may represent two distinct species. Later, Günther (1864) realized that syntypes of S. jerdonii are actually males of S. horsfieldii and subsequently synonymized S. jerdonii. Other workers since (e.g. Boulenger 1885; Smith 1935) also considered S. jerdonii to be a synonym of S. horsfieldii following Günther. However, the original description was very short. Here we have presented the mensural and meristic data of the two syntypes—NHM 1946.8.14.13–14— in Table 2. These two specimens (Figure 4) do not differ from S. horsfieldii in body proportions and scalation data nor do they demonstrate any difference in qualitative characters. Although Gray (1946) stated “Madras” as the type locality, Jerdon (1853) himself stated that these lizards are found only in Nilgiri hills and Smith (1935) also restricted the type locality of S. jerdonii to the Nilgiri hills. Hence it can be seen that these two specimens actually originated from the geographic range of S. horsfieldii. Taking all of this into account we also regard S. jerdonii to be a subjective synonym of S. jerdonii, thus reconfirming the decision made by Günther (1864).Published as part of Das, Sunandan, Campbell, Patrick D., Deuti, Kaushik, Bag, Probhat & Raha, Sujoy, 2019, A contribution to the systematics of Salea anamallayana (Beddome, 1878) and S. horsfieldii Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae), pp. 563-583 in Zootaxa 4563 (3) on page 570, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4563.3.9, http://zenodo.org/record/260148
Multiple Instance Learning using Bag Distribution Parameters
No full textIn pattern recognition and data analysis, objects or events are often represented by a feature vector with a fixed length. For some applications this is a severe limitation, and extensions have been proposed. One approach is Multiple-Instance Learning (MIL). Here, objects are represented by a collection of feature vectors (called a bag) and a bag is labeled positive, when at least one feature vector is member of a concept. In some situations it is not suitable to assume the presence of a concept, and the distribution of all the feature vectors in a bag is required to classify the bag. In this paper we propose a simple bag classification scheme using the parameters of the fitted distributions. Experiments show sometimes surprisingly good performances with respect to other state-of-the-art approaches.Intelligent SystemsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Trachischium fuscum Blyth 1854, sp. nov
No full textRedescription of Trachischium fuscum Blyth, 1854 (Fig. 4A) Talukdar et al. (1980) designated ZSI7044 as the lectotype of Trachischium fuscum. They provided a redescription but it was brief and contained some ambiguous (such as number of VEN) and erroneous (namely SVL and TAL) information. Moreover, it lacked morphometric details and description of the novel characters used in this paper (such as 4SCW/L and 5SCW/L) used to separate T. sushantai sp. nov from T.fuscum. The aforesaid reasons necessitate the inclusion of a redescription of the lectotype of T. fuscum along with an analysis of variation in paralectotypes and non-type materials of T. fuscum. Redescription was based on the lectotype of Trachischium fuscum (ZSI7044): Adult male; SVL 325 mm and TAL 52 mm (not 305 mm and 49 mm respectively as reported by Talukdar et al. [1980]); TAL/TL ratio is 0.14; head small (HL 9.8 mm, 3.2 % of SVL), wider than its height (HW and HH 6.6 mm and 5.1 respectively); head indistinct from neck; eye small (ED 1.3 mm, 13.3 % of HL); ESN 3.7 mm; rostral slightly broader than high (width and height of rostral 1.2 mm and 1.1 mm respectively); internasals paired, much shorter than the undivided PF; length of the pentagonal frontal shield (3.6 mm) greater than its distance from the end of rostral (1.9 mm), wider than supraoculars; parietals (length 5.6 mm) longer than frontal; 1 pre- and 1 post-ocular; loreal twice wider than high; nasals divided and very small; SL (R/L) 6/6, 1 st smallest, 6th largest, 3rd and 4th touching the eye; IL (R/L) 6/6 of 4 are in contact with the genials; anterior genials longer than posterior genials; TEMP (R/L) 1+2/1+2; dorsal scales smooth except those on the basal region of tail which are keeled, DSCH:M: V 13:13:13; VEN 156; anal divided; SC 35 pairs, those one anterior half on tail around twice wider than long with 4SCW/L 2.46 and 5SCW/L 1.88. Blyth (1854) described the colour as follows ‘Of an iridescent dull black colour throughout, the ventrals slightly margined paler.’ Now the specimen has become uniformly brown, with paler margins at the trailing edge of VEN still being evident. Variations. Range of morphometric and meristic data of paralectotypes and other non-type specimens of T. fuscum are presented in Table 1. Head and dorsal scalation in this species shows almost no variation except that in ZSI18693 there is only one 1 posterior TEMP on right side. Smith (1943) reported the range of VEN as 150–165 (the lowest VEN count reported by Sharma [2007] is 132 which is most probably erroneous). The highest VEN count made by us was 169 in ZSI19120. Range of SC reported by Smith (1943) was 28–42. In ZSI18679, there are 44 pairs of SC. ZSI7059 (collected from Darjeeling) exhibits several anomalous ventral scales (Figure 4B). In this specimen, split VEN, incomplete VEN and fused VEN are present sporadically among normal VEN. This anomaly results from abnormalities on vertebrae and ribs (e.g. Shine et al. 2005; Mebert 2011). This specimen also has divided PF. Wall (1909b) found one specimen from Darjeeling which got 9 of its anterior SCs undivided. We found undivided SC in three specimens, including one paralectotype (ZSI7051). The dorsum coloration (in preservative) varies from dark brown to almost jet black. Juveniles, as reported by Wall (1909b) and Smith (1943), have longitudinal stripes and an incomplete collar over nape. Here we would like to mention that there is another specimen from Jammu deposited in ZSI general collection (ZSI25651 B) with divided nasal, VEN 150, SC 35 (first 4 undivided, rest distinctly wider than long, not regular hexagon/rhomboid shaped), SVL 227 mm and TAL 45 mm (TAL 19.8 % of SVL) and black dorsum. It can be seen that this specimen can be easily distinguished from the holotype of T. sushantai sp. nov. and we currently refer it to T. fuscum as we could not find any differences in characters from other T. fuscum of eastern Himalaya that we have studied. Distribution. T. fuscum was found from the states of Jammu & Kashmir, northern West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Assam and eastern Arunachal Pradesh in India, east and central Nepal and Bhutan border area (Günther 1860; Boulenger 1893; Annandale 1904; Wall 1909b; Smith 1943; Agarwal et al. 2010; Wallach et al. 2014; also see the references contained in Wallach et al. 2014). We currently regard one specimen from Jammu as T. fuscum. Also see comments on Ablabes gilgiticus. Wall (1924) regarded the locality Khasi hills (Meghalaya state) to be questionable. Natural history. T. fuscum is a montane snake and it is found between 920 and 2590 meters above sea level (Wallach et al. 2014). This snake species is semi-fossorial and live under stones and leaf litter in montane deciduous forests (Wall 1909b; Das, 2002; Agarwal et al. 2010). Though Das (2002) stated that these snakes become active after sunset, Wall (1909b) frequently found it during daytime in Darjeeling. They feed on earthworms and are of very gentle disposition (Wall 1909b). T. fuscum has a sex ratio that is skewed toward females. The specimens studied by us contained 14 males and 19 females (ratio 1:1.36). Wall (1909b) reported 37 males and 51 females among 88 specimens of which he determined the sex. A similar type of skewed sex ratio was reported for T. guentheri by Wall (1909b) and Chettri et al. (2009). The clutch size of T. fuscum was reported to be 3–6 (Wall 1909b). We found 9 eggs in ZSI19120 (from Gopaldhara, Darjeeling, West Bengal) (Figure 4C). This is the highest number of eggs reported for any Trachischium spp. to date. Hatchlings of this species were seen by Wall (1909b) in Darjeeling in July.Published as part of Raha, Sujoy, Das, Sunandan, Bag, Probhat, Debnath, Sudipta & Pramanick, Kousik, 2018, Description of a new species of genus Trachischium with a redescription of Trachischium fuscum (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae), pp. 549-561 in Zootaxa 4370 (5) on pages 553-555, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4370.5.6, http://zenodo.org/record/114735
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