Hebius clerki explained

Hebius clerki, also known commonly as the Yunnan keelback, is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. The species is native to Asia.

Geographic range

H. clerki is found in northeastern India, northern Myanmar, southwestern China (Yunnan), Nepal, and Bhutan.

Taxonomy

Many authors have considered H. clerki to be a synonym of H. parallelus (formerly Amphiesma parallelum), but a 2015 study revalidated H. clerki. It is possible that many records of H. parallelus actually represent H. clerki.

Habitat

H. clerki is a terrestrial snake inhabiting subtropical moist hill forests above 1000m (3,000feet), often close to water.

Reproduction

The mode of reproduction of H. clerki is unknown.

Further reading

• David P, Agarwal I, Athreya R, Mathew R, Vogel G, Mistry VK (2015). "Revalidation of Natrix clerki Wall, 1925, an overlooked species in the genus Amphiesma Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 (Squamata: Natricidae)". Zootaxa 3919 (2): 375–395.
• Guo P, Zhu F, Liu Q, Zhang L, Huang YY, Pyron RA (2014). "A taxonomic revision of the Asian keelback snakes, genus Amphiesma (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae), with description of a new species". Zootaxa 3873 (4): 425–440. (Hebius clerki, new combination).
• Wall F (2025). "Notes on Snakes collected in Burma in 1924". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 30 (4): 805–821. (Natrix clerki, new species, p. 809).