| Tropidolaemus wagleri | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Subfamily: | Crotalinae |
| Genus: | Tropidolaemus |
| Species: | T. wagleri |
| Binomial name | |
| Tropidolaemus wagleri (Boie, 1827) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Tropidolaemus wagleri is a venomous pitviper species native to southeast Asia. The epithet, wagleri, is in honor of German herpetologist Johann Georg Wagler. No subspecies are currently recognized.[3] It is sometimes referred to as the temple viper because of its abundance around the Temple of the Azure Cloud in Malaysia.
Contents |
This species is sexually dimorphic: the females grow to approximately 1 m in length, while males typically do not exceed 75 cm. They have a large triangular shaped head, with a relatively thin body. Almost entirely arboreal, the tail is prehensile to aid in climbing.
They are found in a wide variety of colors and patterns, often referred to as "phases". In the past, some researchers classified the different phases as subspecies. The phases vary greatly from having a black or brown coloration as a base, with orange and yellow banding to others having a light green as the base color, with yellow or orange banding, and many variations therein.
Wagler's pit viper, temple viper, temple pit viper,[2] bamboo snake, temple snake, speckled pit viper,[4] temple pitviper.[5]
Found in southern Thailand west Malaysia, in Indonesia on Sumatra, the islands of the Riau Archipelago, Bangka, Billiton, Nias, the Mentawai Islands (Siberut), Natuna, Karimata, Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan), Sulawesi and Buton, and in the Philippines on the islands of Balabac, Basilan, Bohol, Dinagat, Jolo, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao, Negros, Palawan, Samar and Tumindao. A type locality is not included in the original description, although Schlegel (1837) given "Sumatra".[1]
Nocturnal and arboreal, they appear quite sluggish as they remaining motionless for long periods of time waiting for prey to pass by. When prey does pass by, or if disturbed, they can strike quickly.
Their primary diet consists of rodents, birds, and lizards. The pits on the sides of the head between the eyes and nostrils are capable of detecting temperature difference of as little as 0.003 degree Celsius.[6]
Their venom is a strong hemotoxin, and is potentially fatal to humans.
This species has undergone much taxonomic reclassification over the years and was previously placed in the genus Trimeresurus. However, their distinctly different morphology and venom characteristics set them apart, so that eventually a new genus was erected in which they were placed together with Hutton's viper, Tropidolaemus huttoni.