We identified two snakes from Paphos district in south-western Cyprus as belonging to the secretive genus Rhynchocalamus. They represent the first record of these snakes in Cyprus. Morphological features and mitochondrial 16S DNA sequences suggest that these specimens belong to R. melanocephalus, a species widely distributed in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The genetic similarity to a specimen from northern Israel may imply either a human-mediated dispersal or a natural colonization. These observations thus raise the number of snake species known to occur in Cyprus to 12.

中文翻译：

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在塞浦路斯发现黑头地蛇 Rhynchocalamus melanocephalus（1862 年 1 月）（爬行动物：Colubridae）

我们在塞浦路斯西南部的帕福斯区发现了两条蛇，属于神秘的 Rhynchocalamus 属。它们代表了这些蛇在塞浦路斯的第一个记录。形态特征和线粒体 16S DNA 序列表明这些标本属于 R. melanocephalus，一种广泛分布于东地中海地区的物种。与以色列北部标本的遗传相似性可能意味着人类介导的传播或自然殖民。因此，这些观察结果将塞浦路斯已知的蛇类数量增加到 12 种。