Bothriechis

''Bothriechis'' is a genus of venomous pit vipers, commonly called palm vipersMehrtens JM. 1987. ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . or palm-pitvipersCampbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp. 1500 plates. . found predominantly in Mexico and Central America, although the most common species, '' B. schlegelii'', ranges as far south as Colombia and Peru. All members are relatively slender and arboreal. The name ''Bothriechis'' is derived from the Greek words ''bothros'' and ''echis'' that mean "pit" and "viper" respectively. Ten species and no subspecies are currently generally recognized.

Description

Species that belong to this genus typically reach lengths of 60–80 cm, while '' B. aurifer'', '' B. bicolor'' and '' B. lateralis'' are known to grow to 1 m or more.

General characteristics include a sharply defined canthus rostralis, an unelevated snout, a rostral scale that is not as high as it is broad, and a prehensile tail that accounts for at least 15% of the body length.

The color pattern usually consists of a green ground color that may or may not include pale or dark markings. '' B. schlegelii'' is an exception to this rule.

Geographic range

Occurs in southern Mexico (southeastern Oaxaca and the northern highlands of Chiapas), through Central America to northern South America (Colombia, western Venezuela, Ecuador and northern Peru).

Behavior

As a general rule, species found above 1,500 meters altitude tend to be diurnal, while those found below 1,000 meters tend to be active at night. Those found between 1,000 and 1,500 meters may be active at any time of the day.

Venom

''Bothriechis'' venom is primarily a haemotoxin which causes severe pain, swelling, bleb formation, bruising, and quite often necrosis. If untreated it can lead to loss of a limb, or even death. Each year several farmers and plantation workers are bitten by eyelash vipers, sometimes resulting in fatalities. Wyeth in the United States an
Instituto Clodomiro Picado
in Costa Rica both manufacture different polyvalent antivenins which can be used to treat eyelash viper envenomations.

Species

There are 11 recognized species.

^T type species

Taxonomy

A new species from Guatemala and Honduras, '' B. thalassinus'', was described by Campbell & E.N. Smith (2000). Campbell & Lamar (2004) recognize this species, as well as a ninth addition to the genus: '' B. supraciliaris'', which was first described by Taylor (1954) as a subspecies of ''B. schlegelii'', and is found in southwestern Costa Rica.

''B. guifarroi'' was discovered in 2010 and described by Townsend et al. in 2013, in a study that included the following suggested phylogenetic tree of the genus:

References

Further reading

* Campbell JA, Smith EN. 2000. "A new species of arboreal pitviper from the Atlantic versant of northern Central America". ''Revista de Biología Tropical'' 48: 1001-1013.
* Cope ED. 1860 (dated 1859). "Catalogue of the venomous serpents in the museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes on the families, genera and species". ''Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia'' 11: 332-347 38
* Peters W. 1859. "''Über die von Hrn. Dr. Hoffmann in Costa Rica gesammelten und an das Königl. Zoologische Museum gesandten Schlangen''". ''Monatsberichte der Preussischen Akademie Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' 1859: 275-278 78
* Posada Arango A. 1889. ''Anales de la Academia de Medicina de Medellin'' 2: 45-49 7
*Posada Arango A. 1889. ''Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France, Paris'' 14: 343-345 43
* Salvin O. 1860. "On the reptiles of Guatemala". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 1860: 451-461 59
* Taylor EH. 1954. "Further studies on the serpents of Costa Rica". ''University of Kansas Science Bulletin'' 36 (11): 673-801.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q944716

Crotalinae

Snake genera
Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters