taxonID	type	description	language	source
903D9271AA1B5936B194115111BEC5E4.taxon	description	Figs 3, 4, 5, 6	en	Ma, Shun, Xu, Yu-Hao, Qi, Shuo, Wang, Ying-Yong, Tang, Shan-Shan, Huang, Song, Jiang, Jian-Ping (2023): Discovery of a new cryptic Achalinus Peters, 1869 (Serpentes, Xenodermidae) species from Hunan Province, China. ZooKeys 1181: 9-27, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462
903D9271AA1B5936B194115111BEC5E4.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The species name " Achalinus sheni " is named for the memories of the Chinese herpetologist, Prof. You-Hui Shen (沈猷慧), who worked in Hunan Normal University and made great contributions to the herpetological research of China, particularly in Hunan Province where the new species is found. We suggest " Shen's Odd-scale Snake " or " Shen's Burrowing Snake " as its English name and " 沈氏脊蛇 " (Shen Shi Jǐ She) as its Chinese name.	en	Ma, Shun, Xu, Yu-Hao, Qi, Shuo, Wang, Ying-Yong, Tang, Shan-Shan, Huang, Song, Jiang, Jian-Ping (2023): Discovery of a new cryptic Achalinus Peters, 1869 (Serpentes, Xenodermidae) species from Hunan Province, China. ZooKeys 1181: 9-27, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462
903D9271AA1B5936B194115111BEC5E4.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. (1) dorsal scales strongly keeled, 23 rows throughout the body, the outmost row smooth and significantly enlarged; (2) tail relatively short, TaL / TL 0.183 ~ 0.224; (3) the suture between internasals subequal to the suture between prefrontals; (4) loreal one, subrectangular, LorH / LorL 0.53 ~ 0.57; (5) ventrals 161 - 170, anal entire, subcaudals 55 - 61, not paired; (6) the length of supraocular equal to or longer than the length of upper anterior temporal; (7) vertebral line inconspicuous and subcaudal streak absent.	en	Ma, Shun, Xu, Yu-Hao, Qi, Shuo, Wang, Ying-Yong, Tang, Shan-Shan, Huang, Song, Jiang, Jian-Ping (2023): Discovery of a new cryptic Achalinus Peters, 1869 (Serpentes, Xenodermidae) species from Hunan Province, China. ZooKeys 1181: 9-27, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462
903D9271AA1B5936B194115111BEC5E4.taxon	description	Description of holotype. An adult male with a total length of 371.3 mm (SVL 292.2 mm and TaL 79.1 mm); tail relatively short, Tal / TL 0.213; body slender, cylindrical; head length (HL) 10.74 mm, head width 5.13 mm, HL / HW 2.09, slightly distinct from neck; eye small, ED 1.25 mm, with an oval pupil; maxillary teeth 21. Rostral small, triangular, only the upper tip visible from above. Length of the suture between the internasals (LSBI 1.38 mm) subequal to the length of the suture between the prefrontals (LSBP 1.36 mm). Nostril in the anterior part of the nasal. Loreal one, subrectangular, loreal height (LorH) 0.85 mm, loreal length (LorL) 1.49 mm, LorH / LorL 0.57. Frontal one, pentagonal, pointed backwards, much shorter than the parietals. Parietals paired. No preoculars and postoculars. Supraocular one, length of supraocular (SPOL 1.59 mm) longer than the length of upper anterior temporal (ATUL 1.42 mm, SPOL / ATUL 1.12). Temporals 2 + 2 + 3, the anterior two contact the eye, the lower anterior temporal much larger, the upper medium temporal much larger, the upper posterior temporal much larger and separated from the other side one by one scale. Supralabials 6, 4 th- 5 th contact the eye, the last one much elongated. One mental. Two chin shields, the anterior pairs longer than the posterior pairs. Infralabials 5, the first one contact with each other after the mental and before the 1 st chin shields, 1 st- 3 rd touch the 1 st chin shields. Dorsal scales strongly keeled, 23 rows throughout the body, the outmost row smooth and significantly enlarged. Ventrals 161; anal entire; subcaudals 60, not paired.	en	Ma, Shun, Xu, Yu-Hao, Qi, Shuo, Wang, Ying-Yong, Tang, Shan-Shan, Huang, Song, Jiang, Jian-Ping (2023): Discovery of a new cryptic Achalinus Peters, 1869 (Serpentes, Xenodermidae) species from Hunan Province, China. ZooKeys 1181: 9-27, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462
903D9271AA1B5936B194115111BEC5E4.taxon	distribution	Distribution and habits. Achalinus sheni sp. nov. is currently only known from Hunan Province, China: Lianyuan City and Nanyue District (350 - 410 m a. s. l.). The native vegetation in the type locality is subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. Areas near the locality where the specimen CIB 119043 was collected is largely covered with artificial coniferous forest dominated by Cryptomeria spp. This new species' population status requires further investigation. The conservation status for the new species is recommended to rate as data deficient (DD).	en	Ma, Shun, Xu, Yu-Hao, Qi, Shuo, Wang, Ying-Yong, Tang, Shan-Shan, Huang, Song, Jiang, Jian-Ping (2023): Discovery of a new cryptic Achalinus Peters, 1869 (Serpentes, Xenodermidae) species from Hunan Province, China. ZooKeys 1181: 9-27, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.109462
