Protobothrops kaulbacki

Last updated

Protobothrops kaulbacki
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Protobothrops
Species:
P. kaulbacki
Binomial name
Protobothrops kaulbacki
(M.A. Smith, 1940)
Synonyms

Protobothrops kaulbacki, commonly known as the Kaulback's lance-headed pitviper [3] or Kaulback's lance-headed pit viper, [1] [4] is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Asia. No subspecies are currently recognized. [3] [5]

Contents

Etymology

The specific name, kaulbacki, is in honor of British explorer Ronald Kaulback. [3] [6] [7] [8]

Description

Adult males of P. kaulbacki may attain a total length of 134 cm (53 in), which includes a tail 22.5 cm (8.9 in) long. Females may grow longer: maximum total length 141 cm (56 in), tail 23 cm (9.1 in). Dorsally, it is green, with a vertebral series of dark angular spots, which may be joined to form a zigzag stripe. The top of the head is black with yellow stripes. Ventrally, except for the whitish throat area, it is gray with large squarish or crescent-shaped yellow spots. [9] Scalation includes 25 rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 201–212 ventral scales, 66–78 subcaudal scales, and 8 supralabial scales of which the third is the largest. [4]

Geographic range

Protobothrops kaulbacki had originally been known only from the type locality, which is "Pangnamdim, north of the Triangle, Upper Burma" (Myanmar). [2] In 2005 it was reported also from Tibet (China). [1] [10] It also occurs in Arunachal Pradesh (NE India). [3]

Reproduction

Protobothrops kaulbacki is oviparous. The adult female lays a clutch of 6–32 eggs in a hole in the ground, and then remains with the eggs to guard them. Eggs measure 48–53 mm x 26–27 mm (about 2 in x 1 in). Each hatchling is 26–27 cm (about 10½ inches) in total length. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Trimeresurus</i> Genus of snakes

Trimeresurus is a genus of venomous pit vipers found in Asia from the Indian Subcontinent throughout Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific Islands. Currently at least 50 species are recognized. Common names include Asian palm pit vipers, Asian lanceheads and Asian lance-headed vipers.

<i>Ovophis monticola</i> Species of snake

Ovophis monticola is a venomous pitviper species found in Asia. Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here. Recent taxonomic work suggests that most of these should be considered as separate species. IUCN has already evaluated O. m. makazayazaya as Ovophis makazayazaya.

<i>Protobothrops jerdonii</i> Species of snake

Protobothrops jerdonii is a venomous pit viper species found in India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

<i>Protobothrops mucrosquamatus</i> Species of snake

Protobothrops mucrosquamatus is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Asia. Common names include: brown spotted pit viper, and pointed-scaled pit viper. No subspecies are currently recognized. The species was first described by Theodore Cantor in 1839.

<i>Trimeresurus albolabris</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus albolabris, the white-lipped pit viper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Southeast Asia.

Trimeresurus cantori, commonly known as the Cantor's pit viper, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the Nicobar Islands of India. It was named after Theodore Edward Cantor (1809-1860), a Danish naturalist serving as a surgeon with the East India Company in Calcutta. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus erythrurus</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus erythrurus, commonly known as the red-tailed bamboo pitviper, redtail bamboo pit viper, and redtail pit viper is a venomous pit viper species found in South Asia and Myanmar. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus gramineus</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus gramineus, known as the bamboo pit viper, Indian green pit viper, or common green pit viper, is a venomous pit viper species found in the southern and north eastern parts of India. It is the type species for the genus Trimeresurus.

Trimeresurus labialis, commonly called Nicobar bamboo pit viper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to the Nicobar Islands of India. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus macrolepis</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus macrolepis, commonly known as the large-scaled pitviper is a venomous pitviper species endemic to the Southern Western Ghats of South India. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus medoensis</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus medoensis, commonly named the Motuo bamboo pitviper, is a venomous pitviper species endemic to India, Burma, and China. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus stejnegeri</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus stejnegeri is a species of venomous pit viper endemic to Asia. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

<i>Protobothrops sieversorum</i> Species of snake

Protobothrops sieversorum, commonly known as the three horned-scaled pitviper or the three-horn-scaled pit-viper, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Vietnam.

<i>Protobothrops mangshanensis</i> Species of snake

Protobothrops mangshanensis, commonly known as the Mangshan pit viper, Mangshan pitviper, Mt. Mang pitviper, or Mang Mountain pitviper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Hunan and Guangdong provinces in China. No subspecies are currently recognized. This is a nocturnal pit viper that is also known as the ''Mangshan iron-head snake'', ''Chinese pit viper'', and the ''Ironhead viper''. They eat frogs, birds, insects, and small mammals. They have a white tail tip that they wiggle to mimic a grub so that prey comes into striking range—a behaviour known as caudal luring. The venom causes blood clotting and corrodes muscle tissue and can kill people. Unusually for vipers, P. mangshanensis is oviparous with the female laying clutches of 13–21 eggs which she will guard until they hatch.

<i>Trimeresurus trigonocephalus</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus trigonocephalus, the Sri Lankan pit viper, Ceylon pit viper, Sri Lankan green pitviper or locally, pala polonga, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Sri Lanka. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus kanburiensis</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus kanburiensis is a species of pit viper found in only a few areas of Thailand. Common names include: Kanburi pitviper, Kanburian pit viper, and tiger pit viper. Highly venomous, it is an arboreal but heavily built species with a brown or tawny coloration. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus puniceus</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus puniceus is a venomous pitviper species endemic to Southeast Asia. Common names include: flat-nosed pitviper, flat-nosed pit viper, and ashy pit viper. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Protobothrops xiangchengensis</i> Species of snake

Protobothrops xiangchengensis, commonly known as the Szechwan pit viper, Kham Plateau pitviper, or Sichuan lancehead, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to the Hengduan Mountains in south-central China. No subspecies are currently recognized.

<i>Trimeresurus brongersmai</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus brongersmai, or Brongersma's pit viper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to the Indonesian island of Simalur. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Gloydius strauchi is a species of venomous pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to western China. It is a small snake with a pattern of four longitudinal stripes, although some older specimens may be a uniform black. G. strauchi may be distinguished from G. monticola by its higher midbody dorsal scale count. This species jointly holds the altitude record for pitvipers together with Crotalus triseriatus of Mexico, both being found even above the tree line at over 4,000 m (13,000 ft). No subspecies were recognized as being valid, until a recent publication re-evaluated the taxonomic statuses of populations of G. strauchi and described the eastern Tibetan populations as a new species.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Guo, P.; Li, P.; Rao, D.-q. (2012). "Protobothrops kaulbacki". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2012: e.T178685A1541636. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T178685A1541636.en . Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  2. 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).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Protobothrops kaulbacki at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 23 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S (2004). Asian Pit vipers. Berlin: Geitje Books. First Edition. 368 pp. ISBN   3-937975-00-4.
  5. "Protobothrops kaulbacki ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  6. Smith MA (1940).
  7. Guo, Peng (2007). "New evidence on the phylogenetic position of the poorly known Asian pitviper Protobothrops kaulbacki (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) with a redescription of the species and a revision of the genus Protobothrops ". Herpetological Journal17 (4): 237–246.
  8. Beolens, Bo; Watkins. Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Protobothrops kaulbacki, p. 138).
  9. 1 2 Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Protobothrops kaulbacki, p. 512).
  10. Rao D, Zhao E (2005). "A New Record from China – Protobothrops kaulbacki (Reptilia, Serpentes, Viperidae)". Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica30: 209-211.

Further reading