Trimeresurus

Trimeresurus
Bamboo pitviper, T. gramineus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Trimeresurus
Lacépède, 1804
Synonyms
  • Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804
  • Craspedocephalus
    Kuhl & van Hasselt, 1822
  • Trimeresura – Fleming, 1822
  • Craspedocephalus – Gray, 1825
  • Megaera Wagler, 1830
  • Atropos Wagler, 1830
  • Trimesurus Gray, 1842[1]

Trimeresurus is a genus of venomous pit vipers found in Asia from the Indian Subcontinent throughout Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific Islands. Currently 35 species are recognized.[2] Common names include Asian palm pit vipers,[3] Asian lanceheads and Asian lance-headed vipers.[4]

Description

Most species in the genus Trimeresurus are relatively small, primarily arboreal species, with thin bodies and prehensile tails. However, Trimeresurus flavoviridis (the Okinawa habu) can reach a total length (including tail) of 242 cm (7 ft 9 in), and is one of the longest pitvipers in East Asia. Trimeresurus species are typically green in color, but some species also have yellow, black, orange, red, or gold markings.

Feeding

Their diet includes a variety of other animals, including rodents, lizards, amphibians, birds, and small mammals .

Reproduction

Like most viper species, many of the species in the genus Trimeresurus are ovoviviparous, bearing live young. However, some species such as T. flavoviridis, T. kaulbacki, and T. macrolepis are oviparous, lay eggs. Also, the reproductive biology of some Trimeresurus species is as yet unknown.

Venom

Their venom varies in toxicity between species, but all are primarily hemotoxic and considered to be medically significant to humans.

Geographic range

Southeast Asia from India including regions of North Chotanagpur ofJharkhand] to southern China and Japan, and the Malay Archipelago to Timor.[1]

Species

Species[2] Taxon author[2] Subsp.*[2] Common name[5] Geographic range[1]
T. albolabris Gray, 1842 2 White-lipped pit viper India (Assam), Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, southern China (Fukien, Hainan, Kwangsi, Kwangtung), Hong Kong, West Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, Madoera, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Sumba, Roti, Timor, Kisar, Wetar).
T. andalasensis David, Vogel, Vijaykumar & Vidal, 2006 0 Sumatran palm pit viper Indonesia: Sumatra.
T. borneensis (W. Peters, 1872) 0 Bornean pit viper Indonesia: Borneo.
T. brongersmai Hoge, 1969 0 Brongersma's pit viper Indonesia: Simalur Island.
T. cantori (Blyth, 1846) 0 Cantor's pit viper India: Nicobar Islands, and possibly the Andaman Islands.
T. cornutus M.A. Smith, 1930 0 Fan-Si-Pan horned pit viper Vietnam: Bach Ma and Tonkin. Occurs in rainforests at low elevations. Also in central Vietnam.[5]
T. elegans (Gray, 1849) 0 Elegant pit viper Japan: southern Ryukyu Islands.
T. erythrurus (Cantor, 1839) 0 Red-tailed bamboo pit viper India (Assam and Sikkim), Bangladesh and Myanmar.
T. fasciatus (Boulenger, 1896) 0 Banded pit viper Indonesia: Djampea Island.
T. flavomaculatus (Gray, 1842) 2 Philippine pit viper Philippine Islands: Agutayan, Batan, Camiguin, Catanduanes, Dinagat, Jolo, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros and Polillo.
T. flavoviridis (Hallowell, 1861) 0 Okinawa habu Japan: Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa and Amami Islands).
T. gracilis Ōshima, 1920 0 Kikushi habu Central Taiwan.
T. gramineusT (Shaw, 1802) 0 Bamboo pit viper Southern India.
T. gumprechtiT David, Vogel, Pauwels & Vidal, 2002 0 Gumprecht's green pit viper China (Yunnan), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.
T. hageni (Lidth de Jeude, 1886) 0 Hagen's pit viper Peninsular Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra and the nearby islands of Bangka, Simalur, Nias, Batu and the Mentawai Islands.
T. jerdonii Günther, 1875 2 Jerdon's pit viper India (Assam) through northern Myanmar to Tibet, China (Hupeh, Szechwan and Yunnan) and Vietnam.
T. kanburiensis M.A. Smith, 1943 0 Kanburi pit viper Thailand.
T. karanshahi Orlov & Helfenberger, 1997 0 Central Nepal in the Himalayas.
T. kaulbacki M.A. Smith, 1940 0 Kaulback's lance-headed pit viper Myanmar.
T. labialis Steindachner, 1867 0 Nicobar bamboo pit viper India: Nicobar Islands.
T. macrolepis Beddome, 1862 0 Large-scaled pit viper The mountains of southern India.
T. macrops Kramer, 1977 0 Large-eyed pit viper Thailand, Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
T. malabaricus (Jerdon, 1854) 0 Malabar rock pit viper Southern and western India at 600-2,000 m elevation.
T. mangshanensis Zhao, 1990 0 Mangshan pit viper China: Hunan Province.
T. maolanensis Yang, Orlov & Wang, 2011[6] 0 China: Guizhou
T. medoensis Zhao, 1977 0 Motuo bamboo pit viper Northern India, northern Myanmar and China (southeastern Xizang).
T. mucrosquamatus (Cantor, 1839) 0 Brown spotted pit viper India (Assam) and Bangladesh to Myanmar, China (Fukien, Kwangshi, Kwantung and Szechwan) and Taiwan.
T. phuketensis Sumontha, Kunya, S.G. Pauwels, Nitikul & Punnadee, 2011 [7] 0 Phuket pit viper Thailand: Phuket Island.
T. popeorum M.A. Smith, 1937 2 Pope's pit viper Northern India, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia (Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut, Sipora and North Pagai, and on the island of Borneo).
T. puniceus (Kuhl, 1824) 0 Flat-nosed pit viper Southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) and Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut and North Pagai, Simalur and Java.
T. purpureomaculatus (Gray, 1832) 1 Mangrove pit viper India (Assam and the Andaman Islands), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra).
T. rubeus Malhotra, 2011 0 Ruby-eyed green pit viper Cambodia (Mondulkiri), southern Vietnam.
T. schultzei Griffin, 1909 0 Schultze's pit viper Philippines: Palawan and Balabac.
T. stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925 2 Stejneger's pit viper India (Assam), and Nepal through Myanmar and Thailand to China (Kwangsi, Kwangtung, Hainan, Fukien, Chekiang, Yunnan) and Taiwan.
T. strigatus Gray, 1842 0 Horseshoe pit viper The hills of southern India.
T. sumatranus (Raffles, 1822) 1 Sumatran pit viper Southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo) and Indonesia (Bangka, Billiton, Borneo, Sumatra and the nearby islands of Simalur, Nias, and possibly the Mentawai Islands [Sipora]).
T. tibetanus Huang, 1982 0 Tibetan bamboo pit viper China: Xiang (Tibet) Autonomous Region.
T. tokarensis Nagai, 1928 0 Tokara habu Japan: Takarajima and Kotakarajima.
T. trigonocephalus (Donndorff, 1798) 0 Sri Lankan pit viper Throughout Sri Lanka from low elevations to about 1,800 m.
T. vogeliT David, Vidal & Pauwels, 2001 0 Vogel's pit viper Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.
T. xiangchengensis Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1979 0 Kham Plateau pit viper China: Yunnan and western Sichuan.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
T) Type species.[1]

Taxonomy

Species that may be recognized by other sources include:


The genus Trimeresurus (sensu lato) has been the subject of considerable taxonomic work since 2000, resulting in the recognition of additional genera within this complex. Most authors now recognise the genus Protobothrops for the species cornutus, flavoviridis, jerdonii, kaulbacki, mucrosquamatus, tokarensis, xiangchengensis,[8][9][10] since these have been shown not to be closely related to other Trimeresurus in recent phylogenetic analyses.

In addition, Malhotra and Thorpe (2004)[9] proposed a radical shake up of the entire genus, splitting Trimeresurus into seven genera. Their proposed arrangement (including species described since 2004) is shown in the table below:

Genus Species included
Trimeresurus andalasensis, borneensis, brongersmai, gramineus, malabaricus, puniceus, strigatus, trigonocephalus, wiroti
Cryptelytrops albolabris, andersonii, cantori, erythrurus, fasciatus, honsonensis (Hon Son Pit Viper), insularis, kanburiensis, labialis, macrops, purpureomaculatus, rubeus, septentrionalis, venustus
Himalayophis tibetanus
Parias flavomaculatus, hageni, malcolmi, mcgregori, schultzei, sumatranus
Peltopelor macrolepis
Popeia barati, buniana, fucata, nebularis, popeiorum, sabahi
Viridovipera gumprechti, medoensis, stejnegeri, truongsonensis, vogeli, yunnanensis

This new arrangement has been followed by many,[10][11] but not all[12] subsequent authors.

David et al. (2011) considered some of the genera of Malhotra & Thorpe to be subgenera of the genus Trimeresurus, creating new combinations such as "Trimeresurus (Parias) flavomaculatus", "Trimeresurus (Popeia) popeiorum", "Trimeresurus (Viridovipera) stejnegeri", etc.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Trimeresurus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  3. ↑ Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
  4. ↑ U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. ISBN 0-486-26629-X.
  5. 1 2 Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
  6. ↑ Yang, J.-H., Orlov, N.I. & Wang, Y.-Y. (2011). "A new species of pitviper of the genus Protobothrops from China (Squamata: Viperidae)." Zootaxa 2936: 59-68.
  7. ↑ Sumontha,M., Kunya,K., S. G. Pauwels,O., Nitikul,A., and Punnadee,S. (2011)."Trimeresurus (Popeia) phuketensis, a New Pitviper (Squamata: Viperidae) from Phuket Island, Southwestern Thailand". Russian Journal of Herpetology. 18;3: 11-17.
  8. ↑ Kraus, F., Mink, D.G., Brown, W.M., 1996. Crotaline intergeneric relationships based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Copeia, 1996, 763-773.
  9. 1 2 Malhotra, A., Thorpe, R.S., 2004. A phylogeny of four mitochondrial gene regions suggests a revised taxonomy for Asian pitvipers (Trimeresurus and Ovophis). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32, 83-100.
  10. 1 2 Castoe, T.A., Parkinson, C.L., 2006. Bayesian mixed models and the phylogeny of pitvipers (Viperidae: Serpentes) Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 39, 91-110.
  11. ↑ Grismer, L.L., J.L. Grismer & J.A. McGuire (2006) A new species of pitviper of the genus Popeia (Squamata: Viperidae) from Pulau Tioman, Pahang, West Malaysia. Zootaxa 1305: 1-19.
  12. ↑ Vogel, G. (2006) Venomous Snakes of Asia/Giftschlangen Asiens. Terralog, Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.
  13. ↑ David, Patrick; Vogel, Gernot; Dubois, Alain. 2011. On the need to follow rigorously the Rules of the Code for the subsequent designation of a nucleospecies (type species) for a nominal genus which lacked one: the case of the nominal genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae). Zootaxa 2992: 1-51.

Further reading

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