Bothriechis bicolor

Taxobox
name = "Bothriechis bicolor"
status = LC
status_system = iucn3.1
trend = stable
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Viperidae
subfamilia = Crotalinae
genus = "Bothriechis"
species = "B. bicolor"
binomial = "Bothriechis bicolor"
binomial_authority = (Bocourt, 1868)
synonyms = * "Bothrops bicolor" - Bocourt, 1868
* "Bothrops" ("Bothriechis") "Bernoullii" - Müller, 1877
* "Bothriechis Bernoullii" - Müller, 1878
* "Bothriechis bernoullii" - Cope, 1887
* "Bothriechis bicolor" - Günther, 1895
* "Lachesis bicolor" - Boulenger, 1896
* ["Bothrops"] ("Bothriechis") "bernoullii" - Boulenger, 1896
* "Trimeresurus bicolor" - Mocquard, 1909
* "Bothriechis ornatus" - Juliá & Verela, 1978
* "Bothrops ornatus" - Alvarez del Toro, 1982
* "Bothriechis bicolor" - Campbell & Lamar, 1989McDiarmid 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: Guatemalan palm-pitviper,Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.] Guatemalan tree viper.Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.] ""Bothriechis bicolor" is a venomous pitviper species found in southern Mexico and Guatemala. The specific name refers to the contrasting ventral and dorsal colors. No subspecies are currently recognized.ITIS|ID=585766|taxon="Bothriechis bicolor"|year=2007|date=8 September]

Description

Adults are usually 60-70 cm in length, but may reach 100 cm, and the body is relatively slender.

The color pattern consists of a green or bluish green ground color. Usually this is without any pattern, but sometimes specimens from Mexico have black flecks and dots and/or blue blotches. The dorsum of the head is a uniform green without any postocular stripe. The interstitial skin is often blue, which can also be true for the borders of some scales. The belly has a somewhat lighter color, usually a uniform yellowish-green.

Geographic range

Found along the Pacific versant from southeastern Chiapas in Mexico, east to south-central Guatemala. Also known from a few locations in Honduras in the southern part of the Sierre de Merendón and the Cerro Santa Bárbara. The type locality given is "Des forêts de Saint-Augustine, département de Solola (Guatémala), sur le versant occidental de la Cordillèra. 610 mètres d'altitude" [= Forests of St. [San] Augustín, on western slope of Cordillera, Departamento de Sololá, Guatemala, 610 m] . Actually, San Augustín is on the southern slope of of Volcán Atitlán.

Habitat

Prefers rain forests and cloud forests between 500 and 2,000 m elevation.

Conservation status

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).Redlist species|no=64303|genus=Bothriechis|species=bicolor|date=14 September|year=2007] Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The population trend is stable. Year assessed: 2007.Redlist CC2001|date=14 September|year=2007]

ee also

* List of crotaline species and subspecies
*
*
* Snakebite

References

External links

*
* [http://www.greglasley.net/guatpitvi.html "Bothriechis bicolor"] at [http://www.greglasley.net/ Greg Lasley Nature Photography] . Accessed 8 September 2007.