Trimeresurus popeorum

Taxobox
name = "Trimeresurus popeorum"

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Viperidae
genus = "Trimeresurus"
species = "T. popeorum"
binomial = "Trimeresurus popeorum"
binomial_authority = Smith, 1937
synonyms = * "Trimesurus elegans" - Gray, 1853
* "Trimeresurus gramineus" - Pope & Pope, 1933
* "Trimeresurus popeiorum" - M.A. Smith, 1937
* "Trimeresurus popeorum" - M.A. Smith, 1943
* "Trimeresurus popeorum" - Taylor & Elbel, 1958
* "Trimeresurus popeorum popeorum" - Regenass & Kramer, 1981
* "Trimeresurus popeorum popeorum" - Golay et al., 1993McDiarmid 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: Pope's tree viper,U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. ISBN 0-486-26629-X.] Pope's bamboo pitviper.Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.] ""Trimeresurus popeorum" is a venomous pitviper species found in northern India, Southeast Asia and parts of Indonesia. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.ITIS|ID=634927|taxon=Trimeresurus popeorum|year=2006|date=5 November]

Description

Grows to a total length 770 mm, tail length 170 mm. Leviton AE, Wogan GOU, Koo MS, Zug GR, Lucas RS, Vindum JV. 2003. The Dangerously Venomous Snakes of Myanmar, Illustrated Checklist with Keys. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 54 (24): 407-462.]

Dorsal scales in 21 (rarely 23) longitudinal rows at midbody; 9-11 upper labials, first upper labials separated from nasals by a distinct suture; a single supraocular; above green, below pale green to whitish, the two separated by a bright bicolored orange or brown (below) and white (above) (males) or white (females) ventrolateral stripe, which occupies the whole of the outermost scale row and a portion of the second row; ventrals 155-169; subcaudals 52-76, in males the base of the tail enlarged to the level of subcaudals 20-25; hemipenes long and slender, smooth, without spines.

This species is most often confused with "T. s. stejnegeri" (q.v.), the two have quite distinct hemipenes, which does not make identification of individuals in the field or in the laboratory any easier without recourse to (a) male individuals and (b) an examination of the hemipenes. However, the two species are not known to have overlapping distributions, at least based on available materials. Also, closely allied to "T. popeorum" is "T. s. yunnanensis" (q.v.); ordinarily, the two are more easily be told apart by the number of midbody dorsal scale rows, 21 in "T. popeorum", 19 in "T. s. yunnanensis".

Geographic range

Northern India, Burma, Thailand, West Malaysia and Vietnam. In Indonesia, it occurs on the islands of Sumatra, Mentawai Islands (Siberut, Sipora, North Pagai) and Borneo. The type locality, designated by lectotype, is listed as "Khasi Hills, Assam" (India).

Gumprecht "et al." (2004) consider records for Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam to be highly questionable, as they are likely based on misidentifications involving other species of "Trimeresurus".

ubspecies

Taxonomy

There are differences in opinion as to the correct spelling of the specific epithet. The following is from David and Vogel (1996):David P, Vogel G. 1996. The snakes of Sumatra. An annotated checklist and key with natural history notes. Ed. Chimaira. ISBN 3-930612-08-9. 259 pp.]

This species was named in honour to Clifford H. Pope and Sarah H. Pope. The original spelling of the specific epithet, "popeiorum", was corrected into "popeorum" by Smith (1943:518) on the basis that it was indeed a clerical error. Unfortunately, according to the Art. 32 (c, ii) of the Code (ICZN, 1985), such a change does not fall into the category of a “correction of an incorrect original spelling." According to the Art. 33 (d), the use of a termination -orum in a subsequent spelling of a species-group name that is a genitive based upon a personal name in which the correct original spelling terminates with -iorum, is an incorrect subsequent spelling, even if the change is deliberate. The original spelling, "popeiorum", must therefore be conserved.

ee also

* List of crotaline species and subspecies
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* Snakebite

References

Further reading

* Gumprecht A. 2001. Die Bambusottern der Gattung "Trimeresurus" Lacépède Teil IV: Checkliste der "Trimeresurus"-Arten Thailands. Sauria 23 (2): 25-32.
* Smith MA. 1937. The names of two Indian vipers. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39: 730-731.
* Tu MC "et al." 2000. Phylogeny, Taxonomy, and Biogeography of the Oriental Pit Vipers of the Genus "Trimeresurus" (Reptilia: Viperidae, Crotalinae): A Molecular Perspective. Zoological Science 17: 1147-1157.

External links

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