Trimeresurus malabaricus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Trimeresurus malabaricus

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Trimeresurus
Species: T. malabaricus
Binomial name
Trimeresurus malabaricus
(Jerdon, 1854)
Synonyms
  • Trigonocephalus (Cophias) malabaricus - Jerdon, 1854
  • Trigonocephalus (Cophias) wardii - Jerdon, 1854
  • Trimesurus Malabaricus - Beddome, 1962
  • Trimesurus Wardii - Beddome, 1962
  • Trimeresurus anamallensis - Günther, 1964
  • Crotalus Trimeres[urus]. anamallensis - Higgins, 1873
  • Crotalus Trimeres[urus]. Wardii - Higgins, 1873
  • B[othrops]. anamallensis - Müller, 1878
  • Lachesis anamallensis - Boulenger, 1896
  • Lachesis malabaricus - Rao, 1917
  • Lachesis coorgensis - Rao, 1917
  • Trimeresurus malabaricus - M.A. Smith, 1943[1]
Common names: rock viper,[2] Malabar rock pitviper.[3]

Trimeresurus malabaricus is a venomous pitviper species found in southwestern India. No subspecies are currently recognized.[4]

Contents

[edit] Description

T. malabaricus.
T. malabaricus.

Dorsal scale rows number 21 or 19 at mid body, weakly keeled. Ventral scales in the males number 143-158 and females 136-159. Anal scale entire. Subcaudals paired and numbering 50-63 in males, 44-54 in females. Internasals large and usually touching. There are 9 or 10 supralabials, the first completely separated from the nasal. There is a single row of scales between supralabials and elongate subocular. The temporal scales are smooth or obliquely keeled.[5]

[edit] Geographic range

Found in southern and western India at 600-2,000 m elevation. The type locality given is "all the forests of the West Coast ... S. India" (the Western Ghats of southwestern India.[1]

[edit] Behavior

They are nocturnal and usually inactive in the day, sometimes seen basking on rocks or trees near streams.

[edit] Venom

Slow but capable of fast strikes. Venom causes moderate pain and swelling to humans and subsides in a day or two.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] 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. ^ Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
  3. ^ Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
  4. ^ Trimeresurus malabaricus (TSN 634923). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 11 March 2007.
  5. ^ a b Whitaker R, Captain A. 2004. Snakes of India, The Field Guide. Draco books.

[edit] Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  • Gumprecht, A.; Tillack, F.; Orlov, N.L.; Captain, A. & Ryabow, S. 2004 Asian Pit Vipers. Geitje Books, Berlin, 368 pp.
  • Jerdon,T.C. 1853 Catalogue of the Reptiles inhabiting the Peninsula of India. Part 2. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal xxii: 522-534 [1853]

[edit] External links

T. malabaricus, brown morph.
T. malabaricus, brown morph.