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Tropidolaemus



Tropidolaemus

Wagler's viper, T. wagleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Tropidolaemus
Wagler, 1830
Synonyms
  • Tropidolaemus - Wagler, 1830[1]
Common names: temple vipers.

Tropidolaemus is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in southern India and Southeast Asia.[1] Currently, two species are recognized and no subspecies.[2]

Contents

Description

Tropidolaemus are sexually dimorphic. Females can attain lengths of up to a meter, but males are typically only average around 75 cm. They have a distinctly broad, triangular shaped head and a relatively thin body.

They are found in a wide variety of colors and patterns, which often referred to as "phases". Some sources even classify the different phases as subspecies. 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.

Geographic range

Southern India and Southeast Asia.[1]

Behavior

These species are primarily arboreal, and are excellent climbers. They spend most of their time nearly motionless, in wait for prey to pass by. They may be diurnal or nocturnal, with their activity period depending on the temperature.[3]

Feeding

The diet includes small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs.[3]

Reproduction

The average litter consists of between twelve and fifteen young, with the neonates measuring 12-15 cm in length.[3]

Species

Species[2] Authority[2] Common name[3] Geographic range[1]
T. huttoni Smith, 1949 Hutton's tree viper The High Wavy Mountains in Madura district, southern India.
T. wagleriT (Boie, 1827) Wagler's pit viper Southern Thailand and West Malaysia. In Indonesia on Sumatra and the nearby islands of the Riau Archipelago, Bangka, Billiton, Nias, the Mentawai Islands (Siberut), Natuna, Karimata, Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak, Kalimantan), Sulawesi and Buton. In the Philippines on the islands of Balabac, Basilan, Bohol, Dinagat, Jolo, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanoa, Negros, Palawan, Samar and Tumindao.

T) Type species.[1]

Taxonomy

The two species here were once classified as Trimeresurus, but were given their own genus due to distinct morphological characteristics.

One new species was described recently: T. laticinctus - Kuch, Gumprecht and Melaun, 2007.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c Tropidolaemus (TSN 634417). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 3 November 2006.
  3. ^ a b c d Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
  4. ^ Tropidolaemus laticinctus at the New Reptile Database. Accessed 12 December 2007.
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tropidolaemus". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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