Aimed to evaluate the phylogenetic position of the recently described Protobothrops dabieshanensis Huang et al. (2012), phylogenic relationships of 12 species within Protobothrops based on four mtDNA gene fragments (12S RNA, 16S RNA, ND4 and Cyt b) were reconstructed in the study. The result indicates a clade composed of P. dabieshanensis, P. jerdonii and P. xiangchengsis with strong support. The genetic distance among P. dabieshanensis, P. jerdonii and P. xiangchengsis was much lower than other congeners. Based on the data from the phylogenetic analysis and previously described morphological differences, we conclude that P. dabieshanensis is a valid species with close affinities to P. jerdonii and P. xiangchengsis. 

This research has been published in Asian Herpetological Research which was supported by Chengdu Institute of Biology of CAS