New records and an updated list of reptiles from Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

Thanh Hoa Province is located in North Central Vietnam and the Province contains a large area of 393,361.33 hectares of natural forest. A complexity of landforms has given this Province a high level of biodiversity potential. However, the reptile fauna of Thanh Hoa Province is still underestimated. Previous studies documented 111 species of reptiles from this Province.As a result of our field surveys in Pu Luong and Xuan Lien Nature Reserves, we report five species of reptiles for the first time from Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, namely Plestiodon tamdaoensis, Scincella devorator (Scincidae), Elaphe taeniura, Pareas macularius and Pseudoxenodon macrops (Colubridae), with novel data about morphological characteristics. In addition, we provide an updated checklist of 116 species of reptiles from Thanh Hoa Province. The reptile fauna of Thanh Hoa Province also contains a number of species of conservation concern: 22 species listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam, 22 species listed in the IUCN Red List, 18 species listed in the Vietnam Governmental Decree No. 84; and 21 species listed in CITES appendices.清化省（Thanh Hoa Province）地处越南北中部区域，辖区内天然林总面积达393361.33公顷。复杂多样的地貌赋予该省极高的生物多样性潜力。然而，清化省的爬行动物区系至今仍未被充分认知。既往研究仅记录了该省分布有111种爬行动物。本研究团队通过在浦吕（Pu Luong）与宣莲（Xuan Lien）自然保护区开展野外调查，首次报道了越南清化省的5种爬行动物新记录，分别为三岛石龙子（Plestiodon tamdaoensis）、德氏滑蜥（Scincella devorator，石龙子科（Scincidae））、黑眉锦蛇（Elaphe taeniura）、斑钝头蛇（Pareas macularius）以及大眼异齿蛇（Pseudoxenodon macrops，游蛇科（Colubridae）），并附带了这些物种的形态特征新数据。此外，本研究更新了清化省爬行动物物种名录，总计收录116种爬行动物。清化省的爬行动物区系中还包含多种具有保护价值的类群：其中22种被列入《越南红皮书》（Red Data Book of Vietnam），22种被列入国际自然保护联盟红色名录（IUCN Red List），18种被列入越南政府第84号法令，另有21种被列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》（CITES）附录。