A complete checklist of herpetofaunal species is required in order to understand species richness and distribution, especially of reptiles. India has a total of 279 snake species, whereas Gujarat only has 60, leaving many opportunities for researchers to further investigate snake diversity in the state. The purpose of this study is to explore snake diversity in the northern region of Gujarat state, a region which comprises five districts, including four protected habitats. The data was collected through surveying forested habitat, examining road kills, and collecting rescue data from volunteers. The study recorded a total of 33 species from seven families showing a high diversity of snake species in the study area. Among them, Spalerosophis arenarius (Boulenger, 1890) was recorded for the first time in the state. With 22 species, Colubridae is the most commonly occurring snake family of the area. North Gujarat has a rich diversity of snakes and we suggest more detailed research on snake diversity and distribution in the future.

A distinctive early Miocene-divergent lineage of Old world racer snakes is described as a new genus and species based on three specimens collected from the western Indian state of Gujarat. Wallaceophis gen. et. gujaratenesis sp. nov. is a members of a clade of old world racers. The monotypic genus represents a distinct lineage among old world racers is recovered as a sister taxa to Lytorhynchus based on ~3047bp of combined nuclear (cmos) and mitochondrial molecular data (cytb, ND4, 12s, 16s). The snake is distinct morphologically in having a unique dorsal scale reduction formula not reported from any known colubrid snake genus. Uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence for nuclear gene cmos between Wallaceophis gen. et. gujaratenesis sp. nov. other members of the clade containing old world racers and whip snake is 21-36%.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148380.].