The diversity of a snake community in a karst forest ecosystem in the central Truong Son, Vietnam, with an identification key Author Ziegler, Thomas Author Hendrix, Ralf Author Thanh, Vu Ngoc Author Vogt, Martina Author Forster, Bernhard Author Kien, Dang Ngoc text Zootaxa 2007 1493 1 40 journal article 10.5281/zenodo.176960 a67acf3d-f43a-4d16-b437-aacf9f0d09ec 1175-5326 176960 Amphiesma sp. On 30 July 2006 , at the end of the dry season, we found an adult male specimen (ZFMK 86457, SVL 465, TaL 215, TL 680 mm ) in the U Bo region at an altitude of about 510 m above sea level. The snake was captured at night (20:00h–21:00h) in the leaf litter of a forest stream, only the snout tip was protruding from the water surface. Scalation features are as follows: internasals narrowed anteriorly; dorsolateral nostrils; nine supralabials ( 4–6 in contact with eye); ten infralabials; one elongated loreal; two preoculars, the uppermost being the larger; two postoculars, the uppermost being the larger; one anterior temporal, followed by one posterior temporal; 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody (keeled, except four outermost rows that bear only keel rudiments, if at all); three preventrals and 171 ventrals; anal divided; 146 divided subcaudals; dorsal tail scales very strongly keeled; TaL / TL ratio 0.32; the coloration and pattern is discernible from Figures 4–5 . This Amphiesma obviously represents a species not yet recorded from Vietnam and detailed comparisons as well as a comprehensive discussion concerning the specific assignment will be provided elsewhere (David et al. submitted).