Trimeresurus sumatranus

Trimeresurus sumatranus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Crotalinae
Genus:	Trimeresurus
Species:	T. sumatranus
Binomial name
Trimeresurus sumatranus (Raffles, 1822)
Synonyms
C[oluber]. Sumatranus - Raffles, 1822 C[oluber]. sumatranus - H. Boie Trigonocephalus formosus - Müller & Schlegel In Temminck, 1842 Trimeresurus Sumatranus - Gray, 1842 Trigonocephalus formosus - Müller & Schlegel In Temminck, 1845 Trigonocephalus sumatranus - Cantor, 1847 Trimeresurus formosus - Gray, 1849 B[othrops]. formosus - Jan, 1863 Bothrops sumatranus - Lidth de Jeude, 1866 Lachesis sumatranus - Boulenger, 1896 Trimeresurus sumatranus - M.A. Smith, 1922 Trimeresurus sumatranus sumatranus - Loveridge, 1938 Trimeresurus sumatranus sumatranus - Golay et al., 1993[1]

Common names: Sumatran pitviper,^[2] Sumatran tree viper,^[3] Sumatran pit viper.^[4]

Trimeresurus sumatranus is a venomous pitviper species found in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Arboreal, its coloration is pale green with a red tail. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.^[5]

Description

An arboreal species that is pale green in color with a red tail.^[3]

Scalation includes 21 (23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 183-190/182-191 ventral scales in males/females, 57-66/55-64 subcaudal scales in males/females and 8-10 supralabial scales.^[2]

Feeding

The diet consists mainly of small mammals and birds.^[3]

Geographic range

Found in 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]). The type locality given is "Sumatra."^[1]

According to Gumprecht et al. (2004), the records regarding its occurrence in the Mentawai Islands are probably based on T. hageni.^[2]

Subspecies

Subspecies[5]	Taxon author[5]	Common name[2]	Geographic range[2]
T. s. malcolmi	Loveridge, 1938	Malcolm's pitviper	East Malaysia at 1,000-1,600 m elevation.
T. s. sumatranus	(Raffles, 1822)	Sumatran pitviper	Thailand (Pattani Province and Betong in Yala Province), West Malaysia, East Malaysia (Borneo), Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatra, Simalur, Nias, the Mentawai Islands [Sipora], Bangka and Billiton).

See also

• List of crotaline species and subspecies
• Trimeresurus by common name
• Trimeresurus by taxonomic synonyms
• Crotalinae by common name
• Crotalinae by taxonomic synonyms
• Snakebite

References

1. ^ ^{a b} McDiarmid 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).
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
4. ^ Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN 0-398-02808-7.
5. ^ ^{a b c} "Trimeresurus sumatranus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634933. Retrieved 26 July 2008. 

External links

• Parias sumatranus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 26 July 2007.