Alpine-Himalayan orogeny drove correlated morphological, molecular, and ecological diversification in the Persian dwarf snake (Squamata: Serpentes: Eirenis persicus) Author Rajabizadeh, Mahdi Author Nagy, Zoltán T. Author Adriaens, Dominique Author Avci, Aziz Author Masroor, Rafaqat Author Schmidtler, Josef Author Nazarov, Roman Author Esmaeili, Hamid Reza Author Christiaens, Joachim text Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 2016 176 878 913 journal article 10.5281/zenodo.5360449 0024-4082 5360449 591555C6-EF37-495B-A CONTIA PERSICA PERSICA TERENT ÉV & CHERNOV, 1965 Holotype ZSI 4828 (collection of the Zoological Survey of India , Calcutta, India ) ( Sclater, 1891 ; Das, Dattagupta & Gayen, 1998 ). Terra typica ‘ Bushire, Persia’ [ Bushehr city ( 28°55′13″N , 50°50′09″E ), Bushehr province , south-western Iran , the locality indicated by circle 29 in Fig. 2 ] . Description N = 9; 5♂ , 4♀ . 190–203 ( x = 195.6) ventrals in ♂ and 198–214 ( x = 205.0) in ♀ ; 64–83 subcaudals ( x = 75.0) in ♂ , 54–77 ( x = 66.25) in ♀ ; ratio of the tail length over total length 21.93–29.09 ( x = 23.80) in ♂ , 18.92– 22.60 ( x = 20.42) in ♀ . 15/15/15 dorsal scale rows on the anterior, mid, and posterior portion of the body; usually seven (88.9%), rarely eight, supralabials and usually eight (88.9%), rarely seven, infralabials on both sides of the head; posterior chin shields attached or separated by a single scale; no loreal scale; usually ten (66.7%), rarely eight or nine, scales between the last infralabials and nine to 12 scales behind the parietals. Dorsal background colour yellowish, light brown or pale olive, without dorsal pattern; usually three dark transverse markings on the head and the nape, one on the posterior snout, another one on the third/ fourth anterior parietals, and the last one on the nape, separated from each other by a narrow light band; alternatively the dorsal head (except at the tip of the snout) and the nape are completely blackish; lateral and ventral head may be uniform cream or with dark markings on snout, upper temporal, below or around eye, and adjacent to the supralabials and anterior to the infralabials; lower side of body unicolour cream; the nape’s band is five to eight scales wide dorsally, shrinks over lateral neck, interrupted over the ventral or preventral scales or rarely (only in one specimen ) connected ventrally ( Fig. 1A ). Distribution Occurs in the southern Zagros and in adjacent areas to the western Zagros foothills and the central plain of Iran , from the south the species range extends to the Persian Gulf coastline. The species has also been reported from Fars , Isfahan , Khuzestan , and Bushehr provinces (localities indicated by circles 21 to 31 in Fig. 2 ) .