''Trimeresurus erythrurus'',
commonly known as the red-tailed bamboo 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 or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
, Ryabov S. 2004. ''Asian Pitvipers''. GeitjeBooks. Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. . redtail bamboo pit viper, and redtail pit viper is a
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 ...
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. . or pit adders, are a subfamily (biology), subfamily of Viperidae, vipers found in Asia and the ...
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
found in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
and
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
. No
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
are currently recognized.
[
]
Description
Males grow to a maximum total length , of which the tail is in length. Females reach a maximum total length of , with a tail length 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 ...
in 23–25 longitudinal rows at midbody; first upper labial partially or completely fused to nasal
Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination:
* With reference to the human nose:
** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery
* ...
; 9–13 upper labials, 1–2 rows of scales separate upper labials from the suboculars; 11–14 scales in a line between supraoculars; supraoculars rarely divided; temporal scales
In reptiles, the temporal scales are located on the side of the head between the parietal scales and the supralabial scales, and behind the postocular scales.U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc ...
small, strongly keeled; 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 cont ...
: males 153–174, females: 151–180; subcaudals
In snakes, the subcaudal scales are the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail. Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. (7t ...
: males 62–79, females 49–61, usually paired, occasionally unpaired shields present among paired series.[
Color pattern: head uniform green, dorsum bright green, light ventrolateral stripe present in males, present or absent in females (Maslin 942:23says that the ventrolateral stripe is absent, but M.A. Smith 943:523states that it is present in males and variable in females), tail spotted with brown; hemipenes without spines.][
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Geographic range
Found in eastern India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
(Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
, Sikkim
Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
, Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
), Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
, Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
, and Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
.[ The original type locality given was as "Delta Gangeticum" (]Ganges Delta
The Ganges Delta (also known the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, the Sundarbans Delta or the Bengal Delta) is a river delta predominantly covering the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Be ...
, West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
State, eastern India). The type locality given by Boulenger (1896) is "Ganges Delta."[
]
References
Further reading
* Cantor, T.E. 1839. ''Spicilegium serpentium indicorum'' arts 1 and 2 Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 7: 31–34, 49–55.
*Cantor, T.E. 1840. ''Spicilegium Serpentium Indicorum''. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1) 4: 271–279.
*Gumprecht, A. 2001. ''Die Bambusottern der Gattung Trimeresurus Lacépède Teil IV: Checkliste der Trimeresurus-Arten Thailands''. Sauria 23 (2): 25–32.
*Maslin, T. Paul. 1942. Evidence for the Separation of the Crotalid Genera ''Trimeresurus'' and ''Bothrops'', with a Key to the Genus ''Trimeresurus''. Copeia 1942 (1): 18–24.
* Smith, M.A. 1943. ''The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes''. Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, Printers). London. xii + 583 pp. (''Trimeresurus erythrurus'', pp. 522–523.)
*Toriba, Michihisa. 1994. Karyotype of Trimeresurus erythrurus. Snake 26 (2): 141–143.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3010245
erythrurus
Snakes of Asia
Reptiles described in 1839
Reptiles of Bangladesh
Reptiles of Bhutan
Reptiles of India
Reptiles of Myanmar
Reptiles of Nepal
Taxa named by Theodore Edward Cantor