''Bothrocophias campbelli'', commonly known as Campbell's toadheaded viper, the Ecuadorian toadheaded pitviper, and ''víbora boca de sapo'' in Spanish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

pitviper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . crotaline snakes (from grc, κρόταλον ''krotalon'' castanet), or pit adders, are a subfa ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Viperidae The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

.Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. 2 volumes. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp. 1,500 plates. . No

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are currently recognized.

Etymology

''Bothrocophias campbelli'' was named in honor of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

Jonathan A. Campbell Jonathan Atwood Campbell (born May 13, 1947) is an American herpetologist. He is currently professor of biology at University of Texas at Arlington. He was a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Biology, University of Texas at ...

. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Bothrocophias campbelli'', p. 46).

Description

The total length (including tail) of the specimens of ''B. campbelli'' which are available ranges from the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

, an adult male ( Freire-Lascano, 1991), to for a large gravid female (Freire-Lascano & Kuch, 2000), to for a specimen from Imbabura,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and another of from the type locality. The scalation includes 21–25 (usually 23) rows of

dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...

at midbody, all of which are keeled except for the first rows. The posterior dorsals have tubercular keels, even in small specimens, while in large specimens these keels are highly elevated. There are 152-167/159-177

ventral scales In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that conta ...

in males/females and 51-64/48-60 paired

subcaudal scales In snakes, the subcaudal scales are the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail.Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . These scales may be either single or divided (pair ...

in males/females. On the head there are 3–8

intersupraocular scales In snakes, the interorbital scales, or intersupraoculars, are the scales on the top of the head between the plates surmounting the eyesWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . ( ...

, 7–8

supralabial scales In reptiles, the supralabial scales, also called upper-labials, are those scales that border the mouth opening along the upper jaw. They do not include the median scaleWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates ( ...

, the second of which is usually fused with the

prelacunal Lacunal scales are those scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the or ...

to form a

lacunolabial The lacunolabial scale is a large scale that forms in some crotaline snakes (pitvipers) when the prelacunal scale fuses with the second (rarely the third) supralabial scale. In such cases, it is often said that "the second labial enters the pi ...

, and 9–10 (usually 9)

sublabial scales In reptiles, the sublabial scales, also called lower-labials or infralabials, are those scales that border the mouth opening along the lower jaw. They do not include the median scaleWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. ''Handbook of Snakes''. Comstock Publis ...

Geographic range

''Bothrocophias campbelli'' is found in the Pacific lowlands and slopes from west-central

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The type locality given is "''Recinto Huagal-Sacramento, cantón Pallatanga, Provincia de Chimborazo, Ecuador. 1500–2000 mts. de altura'' ,900–6,600 feet.

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of ''B. campbelli'' is

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, at altitudes of .

Diet

''B. campbelli''

preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

upon

caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics of ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s, snakes of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Atractus'', and small

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

Reproduction

''B. campbelli'' is

viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...

Taxonomy

In previous accounts, ''Bothrocophias campbelli'' has often been included in ''

Bothrops pulcher :''Common names: Andean forest-pitviper.Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. .'' ''Bothrops pulcher'' is a venomous pitvip ...

'' ( W. Peters, 1862), e.g., ''Lachesis pulcher'' — Boulenger, 1896, ''Bothrops pulchra'' — Amaral, 1923, and ''Bothrops pulcher'' — J.Peters & Orejas-Miranda, 1970.

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

and Lamar (1992) considered ''Bothrocophias campbelli'' to be a junior synonym of ''Bothrops pulcher'', but their concept of the latter taxon was incorrect. Schätti and Kramer (1993) argued that ''Bothrops campbelli'' (Freire-Lascano, 1991) was a ''nomen invalidum'' and suggested a new name, ''Porthidium almawebi'', as a replacement. However, it is clear that Freire-Lascano's (1991) scientific name is valid and has priority over the one proposed by Schätti and Kramer (1993). Gutberlet and Campbell (2001) moved this taxon to a new genus: ''

Bothrocophias ''Bothrocophias'' is a genus of venomous snakes, pit vipers in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae, known by the common name toadheaded pit vipers. The genus is endemic to northern South America. Taxonomy ''Bothrocophias'' is a rela ...

'' (toadheaded pitvipers).