Systematic Review of Colubrid Snakes of the Genus Pareas in the East Asian Islands

Three species of Pareas are currently recognized from East Asian Islands-P. formosensis and P. komaii from Taiwan, and P. iwasakii from the Yaeyama Group, southern Ryukyus. In order to re- assess definitions and applicabilities of their diagnostic characters and to revise the taxonomy of these poorly known snakes, we compared external and osteological characters as well as distribution patterns among these species. The relative position of the second supralabial and subocular, which had been use'd previously to distinguish P. komaii from P. formosensis, is actually not a valid basis for subdividing Tai-