Protobothrops jerdonii
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Protobothrops jerdonii, also known commonly as Jerdon's pit viper,[1][2] the yellow-speckled pit viper, and the oriental pit viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam. Three subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.[1][3]
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Etymology
The specific name, jerdonii, is in honor of British herpetologist Thomas C. Jerdon, who collected the type series.[4]
The subspecific name, bourreti, is in honour of French herpetologist René Léon Bourret.[4]
Description
Males of P. jerdonii grow to a maximum total length of Template:Convert, which includes a tail length of Template:Convert; females grow to Template:Convert, with a tail length of Template:Convert.[5]
Scalation: dorsal scales in 21 longitudinal rows at midbody (rarely 23); snout length a little more than twice diameter of eye; head above, except for large internasals and supraoculars, covered by small, unequal, smooth scales that are feebly imbricate or juxtaposed; first labial completely separated from nasal scales by a suture; internasals separated by 1–2 small scales; 6–9 small scales in line between supraoculars; 7–8 upper labials, third and fourth beneath eye, in contact with subocular or separated by at most a single series of small scales; ventrals: males 164–188, females 167–193; subcaudals: males 50–78, females 44–76.[5]
Geographic range
P. jerdonii is found in northeastern India, Nepal, through northern Burma to southwestern China and Vietnam.[1] The type locality given by Günther is "Khassya" (=Khasi Hills, India).[6]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitats of P. jerdonii are forest, shrubland, and grassland, at altitudes of Template:Cvt.[7]
Diet
Adults of P. jerdonii prey predominately upon rats, while juveniles prey upon frogs of the families Ranidae and Rhacophoridae.[7]
Reproduction
The mode of reproduction of P. jerdonii has been referred to as viviparous[7] and as ovoviviparous.[1] Litter size is five to eight newborns.[7]
Subspecies
| Subspecies[1][3] | Taxon author[1][3] | Common name[8] | Geographic range[8] |
|---|---|---|---|
| P. j. bourreti | (Klemmer, 1963) | Bourret's pitviper | Northwestern Vietnam (in the provinces of Lào Cai and Lai Châu, and possibly also in adjacent China (Yunnan). |
| P. j. jerdonii | (Günther, 1875) | Jerdon's pitviper | Southwestern China (in the provinces of southern Xizang (Tibet), western Sichuan and Yunnan), northeastern India, Bangladesh, Burma (Chin and Kachin state), and northeastern Nepal. |
| P. j. xanthomelas | (Günther, 1889) | red spotted pitviper | Central and southern China (in the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei and Guangxi) and northeastern India(Arunachal Pradesh).[9] |
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Protobothrops.
References
Further reading
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- Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, Printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Trimeresurus jerdonii, pp. 427–428).
- Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the ... Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (Lachesis jerdonii, pp. 551–552).
- Das I (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. Template:ISBN. (Protobothrops jerdonii, p. 63).
- Günther A (1875). "Second Report on Collections of Indian Reptiles obtained by the British Museum". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1875: 224–234. (Trimeresurus jerdonii, new species, pp. 233–234 + Plate XXXIV).
- Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Trimeresurus jerdoni, pp. 510–511, Figure 162).
- ↑ a b c d e f Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedRDB - ↑ Brown, John Haynes (1973). Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73–229. Template:ISBN.
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "template wrapper".
- ↑ a b Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. Template:ISBN. (Protobothrops jerdonii, p. 134; P. j. bourreti, p. 35).
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namediucn - ↑ a b Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S (2004). Asian Pitvipers. First Edition. Berlin: GeitjeBooks. 368 pp. Template:ISBN.
- ↑ Zambre, Amod; Sheth, Chintan; Dalvi, Shashank; Kulkarni, Nirmal (2009). "First record of Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas (Günther, 1889) from Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, India". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 106 (2): 325-327.