Trimeresurus

Trimeresurus
	White-lipped pit viper, T. albolabris
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Crotalinae
Genus:	Trimeresurus ; Lacépède, 1804
Synonyms
	TrimeresurusLacepède, 1804; Craspedocephalus; Kuhl & van Hasselt, 1822; Trimeresura– Fleming, 1822; Craspedocephalus– Gray, 1825; Megaera Wagler, 1830; AtroposWagler, 1830; Trimesurus Gray, 1842;

Last updated November 21, 2023

Trimeresurus is a genus of venomous pit vipers found in Asia from the Indian Subcontinent throughout Southeast Asia, China, and the Pacific Islands. Currently 44 species are recognized.^[2] Common names include Asian palm pit vipers,^[3]Asian lanceheads, and green pit vipers.^[4]

Description

Most species in the genus Trimeresurus are relatively small, primarily arboreal species, with thin bodies and prehensile tails. Most Trimeresurus species are typically green in color, but some species also have yellow, black, orange, red, or gold markings.

Feeding

The diet of Trimeresurus species includes a variety of animals, including lizards, amphibians, birds, rodents, and other 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, laying eggs. Also, the reproductive biology of some Trimeresurus species is as yet unknown.

Venom

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

Geographic range

Species in the genus Trimeresurus are found in Southeast Asia from India (including regions of the North Chotanagpur division of Jharkhand) 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	0	White-lipped pit viper	India (Assam), Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Southern China (Fujian, Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong), Hong Kong, West Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, Madoera, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Sumba, Roti, Timor, Kisar, Wetar).
T. andersonii	Theobald, 1868	0	Anderson’s pit viper, Andaman pit viper	Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands.
T. arunachalensis	Captain, Deepak, Pandit, Bhatt & Athreya, 2019	0	Arunachal pit viper	India: Arunachal Pradesh
T. calamitas	Vogel, Davi & Sidik, 2022	0		Indonesia (Nias Island).
T. cantori	Blyth, 1846	0	Cantor's pit viper	India: Nicobar Islands, and possibly the Andaman Islands.
T. cardamomensis	Malhotra, Thorpe, Mrinalini & B. Stuart, 2011	0	Cardamom Mountains green pit viper	Eastern Thailand, Koh Kong Province in Cambodia.
T. caudornatus	Chen, Ding, Vogel & S. Shi, 2020	0	Ornamental-tailed pit viper	China (Yunnan).
T. davidi	Chandramouli, P. Campbell & Vogel, 2020.^[6]	0		Car Nicobar, India.
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. gracilis	Ōshima, 1920	0	Kikushi habu	Central Taiwan.
T. gumprechti	David, Vogel, Pauwels & Vidal, 2002	0	Gumprecht's green pit viper	China (Yunnan), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.
T. gunaleni	Vogel, David & Sidik, 2014	0	Gunalen's pit viper	Sumatra.
T. guoi	Chen, S. Shi, Vogel & Ding, 2020	0	Guo's green pit viper	China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar.
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. honsonensis	L. Grismer, Ngo & J. Grismer, 2008	0	Hon Son pit viper	Southern Vietnam.
T. insularis	Kramer, 1977	0	Sunda Island pit viper, White-lipped island pit viper	Indonesia, Timor-Leste
T. kanburiensis	M.A. Smith, 1943	0	Kanburi pit viper	Thailand.
T. kirscheyi	Vogel, David & Sidik, 2022	0	Simeulue pit viper	Indonesia (Simeulue Island).
T. kuiburi	Sumontha, Suntrarachun, Pauwels, Pawangkhanant, Chomngam, Iamwiriyakul & Chanhome, 2021	0	Kui Buri pit viper	Thailand.
T. labialis	Steindachner, 1867	0	Nicobar bamboo pit viper	India: Nicobar Islands.
T. macrops	Kramer, 1977	0	Large-eyed pit viper	Thailand, Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
T. malcolmi	Loveridge, 1938	0	Malcolm's pit viper	Borneo.
T. mayaae	Rathee, Purkayastha, Lalremsanga, Dalal, Biakzuala, Muansanga & Mirza, 2022^[7]	0	Maya's pit viper	India: Meghalaya (Ri Bhoi), Mizoram (Champhai), Assam (Guwahati)^[8]
T. mcgregori	Taylor, 1919	0	McGregor's pit viper, McGregor's tree viper, Philippine pit viper	Batan Island, Philippines.
T. medoensis	Zhao, 1977	0	Motuo bamboo pit viper	Northern India, northern Myanmar, and China (southeastern Xizang).
T. mutabilis	Stoliczka, 1870	0	Central Nicobar pit viper, Central Nicobar bamboo pit viper	Central Nicobar Island.
T. nebularis	Vogel, David & Pauwels, 2004	0	Cameron Highlands pit viper, Clouded pit viper	West Malaysia (Cameron Highlands), Thailand.
T. phuketensis	Sumontha, Kunya, Pauwels, Nitikul & Punnadee, 2011 ^[9]	0	Phuket pit viper	Thailand: Phuket Island.
T. popeiorum	M.A. Smith, 1937	2	Popes' 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. purpureomaculatus	Gray, 1832	0	Mangrove pit viper	Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra).
T. rubeus	(Malhotra, Thorpe, Mrinalini & L. Stuart, 2011)	0	ruby-eyed green pitviper	southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia
T. sabahi	Regenass & Kramer, 1981	0	Sabah bamboo pit viper, Sabah pit viper	Sabah, Sarawak
T. salazar	Mirza, Bhosale, Phansalkar, Sawant, Gowande & Patel (2020)	0	Salazar’s pit viper^[10]	India: western lowlands of Arunachal Pradesh
T. schultzei	Griffin, 1909	0	Schultze's pit viper	Philippines: Palawan and Balabac.
T. septentrionalis	Kramer, 1977	0	Nepal pit viper, Himalayan white-lipped pit viper	Bangladesh, India, Nepal
T. sichuanensis	Guo & Wang, 2011	0	Sichuan pit viper	Sichuan, China
T. stejnegeri	Schmidt, 1925	2	Stejneger's pit viper	India (Assam), and Nepal through Myanmar and Thailand to China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Yunnan) and Taiwan.
T. sumatranus ^T	Raffles, 1822	0	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. truongsonensis	Orlov, Ryabov, Thanh & Cuc, 2004	0	Quang Binh pit viper	Central Vietnam
T. venustus	Vogel, 1991	0	Beautiful pit viper, Brown-spotted pit viper	Southern Thailand
T. vogeli	David, Vidal & Pauwels, 2001	0	Vogel's pit viper	Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam.
T. whitteni	Vogel, David & Sidik, 2022	0	Siberut pit viper	Indonesia (Siberut Island).
T. yingjiangensis	Chen, Ding, J. Shi & Zhang, 2019	0		Southwest China
T. yunnanensis	Schmidt, 1925	0	Yunnan bamboo pit viper	Southern China
T. ciliaris	Idiiatullina, Pawangkhanant, Tawan, Worranuch, Dechochai, Suwannapoom, Nguyen, Chanhome & Poyarkov, 2023	0	Limestone Eyelash Pitviper	Thailand

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

Taxonomy

Additional species that may be recognized by other sources include:^[11]

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.

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,^[12]^[13]^[14] since these have been shown not to be closely related to other Trimeresurus in recent phylogenetic analyses.

In addition, Malhotra and Thorpe (2004)^[13] 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, salazar, 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,^[14]^[15] but not all^[11]^[16] 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.^[17]

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 popeiorum from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Related Research Articles

Ovophis monticola, commonly known as the Chinese mountain pit viper, 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 venomous snake

Protobothrops jerdonii, also known commonly as Jerdon's pitviper, the yellow-speckled pit viper, and the oriental pit viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam. Three subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

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

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

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

Trimeresurus popeiorum is a species of venomous pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is native to northern and northeastern parts of India and Southeast Asia. Common names include: Pope's pit viper, Pope's green pit viper, Pope's tree viper and Pope's bamboo pitviper.

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus is a venomous pit viper species native to India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. Common names include: mangrove pit viper, mangrove viper, and shore pit viper.

Trimeresurus septentrionalis, commonly known as the Nepal pit viper or northern white-lipped pit viper, is a venomous pit viper species found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India.

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

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.

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 be fatal to humans if not treated. 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 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.

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.

Craspedocephalus brongersmai, also known commonly as Brongersma's pit viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. No subspecies are currently recognized.

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

Trimeresurus sabahi, commonly known as the Sabah pit viper or Sabah bamboo pitviper, is a venomous pitviper species. If defined narrowly, it is endemic to the island of Borneo. If defined more broadly, it consists of five subspecies found in Southeast Asia.

Trimeresurus rubeus, commonly known as the ruby-eyed green pitviper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Southeast Asia. It occurs in southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Trimeresurus vogeli, commonly known as the Vogel's pit viper, is a venomous pitviper species native to Southeast Asia.

Trimeresurus salazar, also known as Salazar's pit viper, is a species of venomous, green pit viper first discovered in 2019 in the lowlands of the western part of Arunachal Pradesh, India; the fifth new reptile species to be discovered in the region in 2019. It was named after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series. It has a dark green head and yellowish green dorsal scales on the rest of its body. The species is sexually dichromatic; the males have reddish-orange and yellow-orange stripes and a rusty red-orange tail that the females lack. Its habitat is under threat from human development activities.

Trimeresurus cardamomensis is a venomous pit viper species located in eastern Thailand and the Koh Kong Province in Cambodia. It is more commonly known as the Cardamom Mountains green pit viper.

References

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↑ Mirza, Zeeshan A; Bhosale, Harshal S.; Phansalkar, Pushkar U.; Sawant, Mandar; Gowande, Gaurang G; Patel, Harshil (15 April 2020). "A New Species of Green Pit Vipers of the Genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia, Serpentes, Viperidae) from western Arunachal Pradesh, India". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 96 (1): 123–138. doi: 10.3897/zse.96.48431 . Retrieved 24 April 2020.
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↑ Kraus F, Mink DG, Brown WM (1996). "Crotaline intergeneric relationships based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data". Copeia1996: 763-773.
1 2 Malhotra A, Thorpe RS (2004). "A phylogeny of four mitochondrial gene regions suggests a revised taxonomy for Asian pitvipers (Trimeresurus and Ovophis)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution32: 83-100.
1 2 Castoe TA, Parkinson CL (2006). "Bayesian mixed models and the phylogeny of pitvipers (Viperidae: Serpentes)". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.39: 91-110.
↑ Grismer LL, Grismer JL, McGuire JA (2006). "A new species of pitviper of the genus Popeia (Squamata: Viperidae) from Pulau Tioman, Pahang, West Malaysia". Zootaxa1305: 1-19.
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↑ 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)". Zootaxa2992: 1-51.