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. gramineus^T	(Shaw, 1802)	0	Bamboo pit viper	Southern India.
T. gumprechti^T	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. vogeli^T	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:

T. andersonii Theobald, 1868. Commonly called Anderson's pit viper, found in the Andaman Islands of India.
T. barati Regenass & Kramer, 1981. Commonly called Barat's bamboo viper, found in Indonesia.
T. fucatus Vogel, David & Pauwels, 2004. Commonly called the Siamese peninsula pit viper and found in southern Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia.
T. insularis Kramer, 1977. Commonly called the white-lipped island pit viper and found in Indonesia.
T. malcolmi Loveridge, 1938. Commonly called Malcolm's pit viper and found on Borneo (Indonesia).
T. nebularis Vogel, David & Pauwels, 2004. Commonly called the Cameron Highlands pit viper and found in West Malaysia (Cameron Highlands).
T. sabahi Regenass & Kramer,1981. Commonly called Sabah's bamboo viper and found on Borneo, Indonesia.
T. truongsonensis , Ryabov, Thanh & Cuc, 2004. Found in central Vietnam.
T. venustus Vogel, 1991. Commonly called the beautiful pit viper and found in southern Thailand.

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]

Gallery

A juvenile T. vogeli in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand
Trimeresurus fucatus from Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
Trimeresurus albolabris from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
Trimeresurus gumprechti, Gumprecht’s green pit viper from Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Thailand
Trimeresurus macrops from Khao Yai National Park, Thailand
Trimeresurus popeorum from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

References

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).
1 2 3 4 "Trimeresurus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
↑ Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
↑ U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. ISBN 0-486-26629-X.
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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ Kraus, F., Mink, D.G., Brown, W.M., 1996. Crotaline intergeneric relationships based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Copeia, 1996, 763-773.
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.
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.
↑ 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.
↑ Vogel, G. (2006) Venomous Snakes of Asia/Giftschlangen Asiens. Terralog, Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.
↑ 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.

External links

Wikispecies has information related to: Trimeresurus

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trimeresurus.

Trimeresurus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 6 December 2007.

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