Colorful pit viper
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Colorful pit viper ( Trimeresurus venustus ) |
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| Trimeresurus venustus | ||||||||||||
| Vogel , 1991 |
The colorful pit viper ( Trimeresurus venustus , syn .: Cryptelytrops venustus Malhotra & Thorpe, 2004), also called beautiful pit viper , is a poisonous snake from the subfamily of pit vipers (Crotalinae).
Distribution area
The distribution area of the colorful pit viper is in the Thai part of the Malay Peninsula in the provinces of Surat Thani , Nakhon Si Thammarat and Krabi .
features
The colorful pit viper can reach a total length of 58 cm. There are 21 rows of scales on the back. Except for the scales in the outer rows, all back scales are keeled. The number of abdominal scales in males is 170 to 175, in females 173 to 181 scales, that of the always divided subcaudalia is 60 to 71 in males, in females it is 48 to 55. The anal scale is undivided. There are three pre- oculars in front of the eye, followed by two to three post-ocularia. There are 10 to 13 supraocularia above the eye, including a narrow subocular. The number of upper lip shields (supralabials) is nine to eleven, the first being separate from the nasal shield , the second being adjacent to the pit organ , and the third being the largest and able to touch the subocular. The number of lower lip shields (infralabialia) is 11 to 13.
The snake is green on top and patterned with reddish brown ribbons. The belly is greenish, the abdominal scales are partly spotted reddish brown on their sides. At the transition from the abdomen to the sides of the body there are white longitudinal stripes. The top of the head is mottled lighter green and reddish brown. The underside of the tail is reddish brown and shows a central row of white spots and white and green spots on the sides. Upper and lower lip scales (labialia) are yellow-green. In the young animals the color is more contrasting.
Way of life
The colorful pit viper has so far been little researched. Their poison has not yet been investigated either. It is viviparous and a female gives birth to 14 to 16 young snakes, which are then 16 to 19 cm in length.
literature
- Ulrich Manthey, Wolfgang Grossmann: Amphibians & Reptiles of Southeast Asia. Natur und Tier Verlag (1997), ISBN 978-3931587123 , page 411.
