''Protobothrops mangshanensis'', commonly known as the Mangshan pit viper, Mangshan pitviper, Mt. Mang pitviper, or Mang Mountain pitviper,Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL,

Captain A Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, Ryabov S. 2004. ''Asian Pitvipers''. Geitje Books. Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. . is a venomous

pit viper 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 ...

species endemic to Hunan and Guangdong provinces in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. 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. This is a nocturnal pit viper that is also known as the ''Mangshan iron-head snake'', ''Chinese pit viper'', and the ''Ironhead viper''. They eat frogs, birds, insects, and small mammals. They have a white tail tip that they wiggle to mimic a grub so that prey comes into striking range—a behaviour known as

caudal luring Caudal luring is a form of aggressive mimicry characterized by the waving or wriggling of the predator's tail to attract prey. This movement attracts small animals who mistake the tail for a small worm or other small animal. When the animal approac ...

. The venom causes blood clotting and corrodes muscle tissue and can kill people. Unusually for vipers, ''P. mangshanensis'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

with the female laying clutches of 13–21 eggs which she will guard until they hatch.

Description

The species reaches an adult weight of and a length of up to . It is sometimes claimed that ''P. mangshanensis'' "spits" venom, in a manner similar to

spitting cobras A spitting cobra is any of several species of cobras that can defensively spray a toxic secretion - functioning as both a venom (that can be injected via a wound) and a toxungen (that can be sprayed on the target surface) - from their fangs in ...

, but this has been disproven.

Geographic range

The species is known from the type locality: "Pingkeng, Mangshan (Mt. Mang), Yizhang County, Hunan", as well as from Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County in Guangdong province, both in southern

Conservation status

This species is listed as " Endangered" by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

on the basis that this species has an extent of occurrence and area of occupancy both unlikely to exceed , it is known from two locations at risk from harvesting for the international pet trade and as a local delicacy, and there is a continuing decline in the number of mature individuals.

Habitat

This pitviper is found in mountainous regions in southern Hunan and northern Guangdong at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. Although first discovered in the Mt. Mang mountain range, it is also found in surrounding areas, primarily in subtropical montane forest with thick vegetation and cover. It is often found lying along lichen-covered logs and other structures along animal trails to ambush prey, and can also be found in the numerous limestone caves in the region. Winter temperatures in the region come close to freezing, whilst summer temperatures can reach or higher.

Taxonomy

This species was originally described in the genus ''

Trimeresurus ''Trimeresurus'' is a genus of venomous pit vipers found in Asia from the Indian Subcontinent throughout Southeast Asia, China, and the Pacific Islands. Currently 44 species are recognized. Common names include Asian palm pit vipers,Mehrtens JM ( ...

''. A new genus, ''Ermia'', named in honor of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

herpetologist Zhao Ermi, was erected for the species in 1993. However, by coincidence, this

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

name was already in use for a genus of locusts. The new generic name ''Zhaoermia'' was therefore proposed as a replacement name for ''Ermia''.Gumprecht A, Tillack F. 2004. Proposal for a replacement name of the snake genus ''Ermia'' Zhang, 1993. Russ. J. Herpetol. 11 (1): 73-76. More recently, Guo et al. (2007)Guo, P., A. Malhotra, P.P. Li, C.E. Pook & S. Creer (2007) New evidence on the phylogenetic position of the poorly known Asian pitviper ''Protobothrops kaulbacki'' (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) with a redescription of the species and a revision of the genus ''Protobothrops''. Herpetological Journal 17: 237-246. transferred the species to the genus ''Protobothrops'', based on evidence ''T. mangshanensis'' is phylogenetically nested within the existing species of that genus. The species is therefore currently known as ''Protobothrops mangshanensis''.

Description

Geographic range

Conservation status

Habitat

Taxonomy

See also

References

Further reading