Trimeresurus salazar

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Trimeresurus salazar
Trimeresurus salazar.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Trimeresurus
Species:
T. salazar
Binomial name
Trimeresurus salazar
Mirza et al., 2020

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.

Contents

Taxonomy and etymology

This snake was first discovered during a herpetological expedition in the summer of 2019 to the Eastern Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh, India, which is a biodiversity hotspot and has a high degree of landscape heterogeneity with elevation ranging from 100 to 7000 m and distinct climatic regimes. [1] [2] The expedition collected two specimens of a green pit viper of the genus Trimeresurus in the lowlands near Pakke Tiger Reserve, which were believed to be either Trimeresurus septentrionalis or Trimeresurus albolabris based upon their coloration and the number of dorsal scale rows. These specimens were later compared with eleven specimens of T. septentrionalis and T. albolabris from the collections of the Bombay Natural History Society, the Natural History Museum, London, National Museum of Natural History in Paris and the University of Copenhagen, [1] and differences were found in the coloration of the lateral stripe on the head and the body in males. [3] Molecular analysis of the genomic DNA confirmed that the specimens were a new species of green pit viper. [4] It became the fifth new reptile species to be discovered in Arunachal Pradesh in 2019. [5] The researchers also found two specimens of the new species in the Natural History Museum of Denmark which had been collected by a Danish naturalist, Bernt Wilhelm Westermann, between 1811 and 1816 [6] but were wrongly labeled as white-lipped pit vipers. [7]

This new species of green pit viper, Trimeresurus salazar, was named after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series, [8] with a suggested common name of Salazar's pit viper. [9] In the fictional book and movie series, Slytherin is famous for being a Parselmouth, a person who can communicate with snakes. [10] As such, the house he founded in Hogwarts is represented by a snake, and is also associated with the color green. [1]

Description

Salazar's pit viper has a long and thin body with a length reaching 363 to 415 mm, [11] and a triangular, elongated head which is clearly distinct from the neck. [12] These vipers are green but also have yellow, orange, red, or gold markings. [13] Males have a reddish orange stripe running from their preocular scales to the lateral side of the nape, a yellow-orange ventrolateral stripe and a short, bilobed hemipenis. [9] The head is dark green in color which fades to a yellowish green color on its dorsal scales, except for the first dorsal scale row which is yellowish white with a faint orange patch. The tail has rusty red dorsal scales and orange ventral scales. Juveniles are brightly colored with the males having a much more prominent lateral stripe on the head. [14] Females lack both reddish orange head stripe and the yellow-orange ventrolateral stripe. [15] The appearance of T. salazar is different to the T. albolabris, T. septentrionalis, and the T. insularis because of the greater number of pterygoid and dentary teeth, the reddish-orange head stripe in the males and the smaller size of its hemipenis. [16] It has 6 palatine, 15 pterygoid and 19 dentary teeth. [12]

The species has 19 to 21 rows of moderately keeled dorsal scales at mid-body, 163 to 171 ventral scales, 59 to 74 subcaudal scales, 12 to 13 infralabial scales and 10 to 11 supralabial scales with the first supralabial scale being fused with the nasal scale. [12] [15]

Distribution and habitat

Trimeresurus salazar
Findings of T. salazar and T. cf. salazar as of 2022: Mirza et al. (light green), Rathee et al. (green), Koirala et al. (gray)

Salazar's pit vipers have been found at an elevation of 172 metres above sea level in the Eastern Himalayas, [17] in the lowlands of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India. [18] [19] They are also confirmed to be present in Meghalaya, [20] Mizoram, the slopes of Darjeeling in West Bengal, [21] and may also be present in Tripura, and possibly in Bangladesh. [22] The species was later documented near Lumang in the Tashigang Territorial Forest Division in eastern Bhutan [23] and in Jashpur district, Chhattisgarh. [21] They are nocturnal snakes [1] and have been observed coiled on shrubs at night. [15]

Their diversity could be underestimated as the species belonging to the Trimeresurus genus are morphologically cryptic, which makes them difficult to identify in the field, requiring evidence based upon morphological, ecological and molecular data. [3] Their habitat in Arunachal Pradesh is under threat from development activities such as road widening, agriculture and hydroelectric projects, [17] especially the proposed 49 km long Seijosa-Bhalukpong road which cuts right through their habitat, [24] and the proposed Dibang Dam. [7]

Diet

The diet of pit vipers in the genus Trimeresurus includes lizards, amphibians, birds, rodents, and other small mammals. [13]

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 44 species are recognized. Common names include Asian palm pit vipers, Asian lanceheads, and green pit vipers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green pit viper</span> Index of articles associated with the same name

Green pit viper is a common name for several venomous snakes and may refer to:

Tropidolaemus huttoni is a little-known species of pit viper, a venomous snake in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the southern Western Ghats of India. There are no subspecies that are currently recognized. Little is known about this species, as this species is known only from two young individuals, based on which it was first described in 1949. Despite long-term and targeted herpetological surveys in the particular hill range (Meghamalai), it has never been re-sighted there or elsewhere since then.

<i>Craspedocephalus strigatus</i> Species of reptile

Craspedocephalus strigatus, commonly known as the horseshoe pit viper, is a venomous pitviper endemic to the Western Ghats of India. No subspecies are currently recognized.

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

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

Trimeresurus cantori, commonly known as Cantor's pit viper or Cantor's pitviper, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the Subfamily Crotalinae of 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 recognized as being valid.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Craspedocephalus puniceus is a venomous pit viper 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>Trimeresurus sumatranus</i> Species of snake

Trimeresurus sumatranus is a venomous pitviper species found in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Arboreal, its coloration is pale green with a red tail. Common names include Sumatran pitviper, Sumatran tree viper, and Sumatran pit viper.

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

Trimeresurus hageni, commonly known as the Hagen's pit viper, is a species of pit viper, a venomous snake, in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

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 tibetanus, commonly known as the Tibetan bamboo pit viper, is a venomous pit viper species found only in Tibet. No subspecies are currently recognized.

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

Trimeresurus mcgregori, commonly known as McGregor's pit viper or the Batanes pit viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines.

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

Trimeresurus insularis or Indonesian pit viper, Lesser Sunda Islands pit viper, Sunda white-lipped pit viper is a venomous pit viper species found in eastern Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia.

Trimeresurus arunachalensis, the Arunachal pitviper, is a species of venomous pit viper endemic to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is only known from the village of Ramda in the West Kameng district, where a single specimen was discovered during biodiversity surveys. It can physically be distinguished by its scalation, its acutely pointed snout reminiscent of the hump-nosed viper, and its brownish dorsal coloration with glossy orange-reddish-brown sides and belly. The last new species of (green) pit viper was described from India 70 years before the discovery of T. arunachalensis. Genetic analysis indicates that the closest relative of this species is the Tibetan bamboo pit viper. The single specimen known of this species makes it one of the rarest known pit vipers in the world, though further surveys of the forest habitat will likely reveal more individuals.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kimbrough 2020.
  2. ↑ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 124.
  3. 1 2 Mirza et al. 2020, pp. 123–124.
  4. ↑ Mirza et al. 2020, pp. 124–125.
  5. ↑ Karmakar 2020.
  6. ↑ Rathee et al. 2021, p. 131.
  7. 1 2 George 2020.
  8. ↑ Asmelash 2020.
  9. 1 2 Mirza et al. 2020, p. 125.
  10. ↑ BBC 2020.
  11. ↑ Chandramouli, Campbell & Vogel 2020, p. 174.
  12. 1 2 3 Mirza et al. 2020, p. 126.
  13. 1 2 de Lazaro 2020.
  14. ↑ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 127.
  15. 1 2 3 Mirza et al. 2020, p. 130.
  16. ↑ Starr 2020.
  17. 1 2 Baheerathan 2020.
  18. ↑ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 123.
  19. ↑ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 131.
  20. ↑ Rathee et al. 2021, pp. 131–132.
  21. 1 2 Vogel et al. 2022, p. 349.
  22. ↑ Rathee et al. 2021, p. 136.
  23. ↑ Koirala et al. 2021, p. 17464.
  24. ↑ Goswami 2020.

Sources

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