Trimeresurus cantori

Trimeresurus cantori
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Trimeresurus
Species: T. cantori
Binomial name
Trimeresurus cantori
(Blyth, 1846)
Synonyms
  • Trigonocephalus Cantori Blyth, 1846
  • Trimesurus viridis var. Cantori — Blyth, 1861
  • Trim[eresurus]. Cantori
    — Stoliczka, 1870
  • Trimeresurus Cantoris Stoliczka, 1870
  • Lachesis cantoris
    — Boulenger, 1896
  • Trimeresurus cantori
    — M.A. Smith, 1943[1]
  • Cryptelytrops cantori
    — Malhotra & Thorpe, 2004
  • Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) cantori
    — David et al., 2011[2]
Common names: Cantor's pitviper,[3] Cantor's pit viper.[4]

Trimeresurus cantori is a venomous pit viper species endemic to the Nicobar Islands of India.[5] It was named after Theodore Edward Cantor (1809-1860), a Danish naturalist serving as a surgeon with the East India Company in Calcutta.[6] No subspecies are currently recognized.[5]

Geographic range

Found in the Nicobar Islands (which are in the Bay of Bengal), India, and possibly in the Andaman Islands. The type locality given is "Nicobars".[1]

Description

Adults may attain a snout-vent length (SVL) of 115 cm (45 in).[7] Boulenger reported that an adult female with a total length of 102 cm (40 in) had a tail 14 cm (5.5 in) long.[8]

This species varies in pattern and color. Dorsally, it may be green, dark brown, or light brown. Green individuals may have yellow spots, and brown specimens may have darker spots. Running along each side of the head, below the eye and above the upper lip, is a cream-colored stripe. There is also a cream-colored stripe on the first row of dorsal scales on each side of the body. Ventrally, it is greenish or cream-colored, with some brown spots on the underside of the tail.[7]

The weakly keeled dorsal scales are arranged in 27 to 31 rows at midbody. Ventrals 174-184; anal plate entire; subcaudals divided 55-76.[8]

Behavior

Trimeresurus cantori is nocturnal and will hunt near houses.[7]

Diet

It preys upon small mammals and birds.[7]

Venom

This species possesses a potent venom, and some of its bites to humans have resulted in fatalities.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ↑ Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. First Edition. Berlin: GeitjeBooks. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
  4. ↑ Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN 0-398-02808-7.
  5. 1 2 "Trimeresurus cantori ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  6. ↑ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Trimeresurus cantori, p. 47).
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Das I. 2002. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Trimeresurus cantori, p. 65).
  8. 1 2 Boulenger GA. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the ... Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Lachesis cantoris, p. 551).

Further reading

  • Blyth E. 1846. Notes on the Fauna of the Nicobar Islands. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 15: 367-379. ("Trigonocephalus Cantori", p. 377).
  • Das I. 1999. Biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. In: Ota H. (editor) Tropical Island herpetofauna... Elsevier. pp. 43–77.
  • Parkinson CL. 1999. Molecular systematics and biogeographical history of Pit Vipers as determined by mitochondrial ribosomal DNA sequences. Copeia 1999 (3): 576-586.
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