Description of a New Species of Kukri Snake (Serpentes: Colubridae: <italic>Oligodon</italic>) from Xizang, China

<p indent="0mm">A new species of the Kukri snake genus <italic>Oligodon</italic> is described from Medog County in the eastern Himalayas of China. The species, named <italic>Oligodon zhangfujii</italic> <bold>sp. nov.</bold>, can be distinguished from all known congeners by a combination of the following morphological characteristics: (1) 17-17-15 dorsal scale rows; (2) six supralabials, third and fourth entering orbit; (3) one loreal present; (4) seven infralabials, first to fourth in contact with anterior chin shields; (5) 173 ventral scales and 47 pairs of subcaudal scales; (6) cloacal plate divided; (7) hemipenis single, shallowly bilobed, with large calcareous spines and a calyx area, sulcus spermaticus single; and (8) eight maxillary teeth. Phylogenetic analyses based on two mitochondrial genes revealed that this species occupies an independent phylogenetic position, distinct from the eight recognized species groups within the genus, and represents a sister taxon to the clade comprising the <italic>O</italic>. <italic>theobaldi</italic> and <italic>O</italic>. <italic>cinereus</italic> groups. The description is based on a single road-killed individual. As such, ecological data for the species remain sparse, underscoring the need for additional field surveys across the eastern Himalayan region.