Taxonomy of Boiga beddomei (Wall, 1909) Colubridae: Serpentes from Anaikatty Hills, Western Ghats, India

Beddome's Cat Snake, Boiga beddomei (Wall, 1909) is largely distributed and restricted to the Southern Western Ghats.It is now also reported from Anaikatti Hills, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, where this species has been earlier misidentified as B. flaviviridis.This species may be taxonomically distinguished from its sympatric congeners by the dorsal scale count (pholidosis): 19: 19: 13; 7-8 supralabials; 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th supralabials in contact with orbit; ventral 241-246 and 95-107 paired subcaudals.The taxonomic identity crisis in this species is hereby resolved by providing a redescription and neotypification as the syntypes at BMNH are all lost.Also, a comparison is provided of different species of Boiga distributed in the Southern Western Ghats.