Trimeresurus trigonocephalus

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Trimeresurus trigonocephalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Trimeresurus
Species: T. trigonocephalus
Binomial name
Trimeresurus trigonocephalus
(Donndorff, 1798)
Synonyms
  • Coluber capite-triangulatus - Lacépède, 1789
  • Col[uber]. Trigonocephalus - Donndorff, 1798
  • Vipera trigonocephala - Sonnini & Latreille, 1801
  • Trigonocephalus nigromarginatus - Kuhl, 1820
  • [Cophias] trigonocephalus - Merrem, 1820
  • Trigonoceph[alus]. sagittiformis - Schinz, 1822
  • Megaera trigonocephala - Wagler, 1830
  • Megaera olivacea - Gray, 1842
  • Bothrops nigromarginatus - A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854
  • Trimeresurus trigonocephalus - Günther, 1864
  • Lachesis trigonocephalus - Boulenger, 1896
  • Lachesis trigonocephala - Boettger, 1898
  • Trimeresurus capitetriangulatus - Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1981
  • Coluber trogonocephalus - Golay et al., 1993[1]
Common names: Sri Lankan green pitviper.[2]

Trimeresurus trigonocephalus is a venomous pitviper species found in Sri Lanka. No subspecies are currently recognized.[3]

Contents

[edit] Description

A sexually dimporphic species, at a maximum of 70 cm in length the males are considerably smaller than females, which can grow to 130 cm. In addition, male tends to have a blue coloration, whereas the females are predominantly green. These are bulky snakes with a prehensile tail, suiting their arboreal lifestyle.

[edit] Geographic range

Found all over the island of Sri Lanka, from the lower altitudes to about 1,800 m (de Silva, 1980). The type locality given is "lîle S.-Eustache" (Sri Lanka).[1]

[edit] Behavior

This is not a particularly defensive species, but if agitated it will vibrate its tail tip and eventually strike.

[edit] Venom

The venom is primarily haemotoxic, with victims experiencing severe pain, swelling of the bitten area, oedema and localised tissue necrosis. However, fatalities have not been reported.

[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. ^ 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. ^ Trimeresurus trigonocephalus (TSN 634936). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 27 December 2007.

[edit] External links