Report of a Dicephalic Steppes Ratsnake (Elaphe dione) Collected in South Korea

作     者：Il-Hun KIM Ja-Kyeong KIM Jonathan J.FONG Daesik PARK 

作者机构：Department of BiologyKangwon National University School of Biological SciencesSeoul National University Division of Science EducationKangwon National University 

出 版 物：《Asian Herpetological Research》 (亚洲两栖爬行动物研究（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2013年第4卷第3期

页      面：182-186页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 0905[农学-畜牧学] 0906[农学-兽医学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

基　　金：supported by 2013 Research Grant(C100983401-01) from Kangwon National University 

主　　题：dicephalism morphology Steppes Ratsnake Elaphe dione 

摘      要：In this report, we describe morphological characteristics of a dicephalic Steppes Ratsnake （Elaphe dione） collected from the wild in 2011 in South Korea. The specimen has two heads and two long necks. Unlike normal individuals, the dicephalic snake has divided ventral scales under the necks of the bifurcated columns. The snout- vent length （SVL） and overall total length of the individual are shorter than those of normal snakes of the same age. Nevertheless, the counts of nine different scale types that are often used for classification are all within the ranges of normal individuals. As far as we know, this is the first detailed morphological description of a dicephalic E. dione in the scientific literature.