Bothriechis

Taxobox
name = "Bothriechis"

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image_caption = Black-speckled palm-pitviper, "B. nigroviridis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Viperidae
subfamilia = Crotalinae
genus = "Bothriechis"
genus_authority = Peters, 1859
synonyms = * "Bothriechis" - Peters, 1859
* "Teleuraspis" - Cope, 1860
* "Thamnocenchris" - Salvin, 1860
* "Thanatos" - Posada Arango, 1889
* "Thanatophis" - Posada Arango, 1889McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).]

:"Common names: palm vipers,Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.] palm-pitvipers.Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.] ""Bothriechis" is a genus of venomous pitvipers found predominantly in Mexico and Central America, although one species, "B. schlegelii", ranges as far south as Colombia and Peru. All members are relatively slender and arboreal. The name "Bothriechis" is derived from the Greek words "bothros" and "echis" that mean "pit" and "viper" respectively. Seven species are currently recognized and no subspecies.ITIS|ID=585650|taxon=Bothriechis|year=2006|date=2 November]

Description

Species that belong to this genus typically reach lengths of 60-80 cm, while "B. aurifer", "B. bicolor" and "B. lateralis" are known to grow to 1 m or more.

General characteristics include a sharply defined canthus rostralis, an unelevated snout, a rostral scale that is not as high as it is broad, and a prehensile tail that accounts for at least 15% of the body length.

The color pattern usually consists of a green ground color that may or may not include pale or dark markings. "B. schlegelii" is an exception to this rule.

Geographic range

Occurs in southern Mexico (southeastern Oaxaca and the northern highlands of Chiapas), through Central America to northern South America (Colombia, western Venezuela, Ecuador and northern Peru.

Behavior

As a general rule, species found above 1,500 m altitude tend to be diurnal, while those found below 1,000 m tend to be active at night. Those found between 1,000 and 1,500 m may be active at any time of the day.

Venom

"Bothriechis" venom is primarily a haemotoxin which causes severe pain, swelling, bleb formation, bruising, and quite often necrosis. If untreated it can lead to loss of a limb, or even death. Each year several farmers and plantation workers are bitten by eyelash vipers, sometimes resulting in fatalities. Wyeth in the United States and [http://www.icp.ucr.ac.cr/ Instituto Clodomiro Picado] in Costa Rica both manufacture different polyvalent antivenins which can be used to treat eyelash viper envenomations.

pecies

^T) Type species.

Taxonomy

A new species from Guatemala and Honduras, "B. thalassinus", was described by Campbell & Smith (2000). Campbell and Lamar (2004) recognize this species, as well as a ninth addition to the genus: "B. supraciliaris", which was first described by Taylor (1954) as a subspecies of "B. schlegelii", and is found in southwestern Costa Rica.

ee also

* List of crotaline species and subspecies
*
*
* Snakebite

References

Further reading

* Campbell JA, Smith EN. 2000. A new species of arboreal pitviper form the Atlantic versant of northern Central America. Revista de Biologia Tropical, 48:1001-1013.

External links

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