Black-spotted palm-lance viper

Black-spotted palm-lance viper
Black-spotted palm-lance viper ( Bothriechis nigroviridis )
Systematics
Subordination : Snakes (serpentes) Superfamily : Adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea) Family : Vipers (Viperidae) Subfamily : Pit vipers (Crotalinae) Genre : Palm lance vipers ( bothriechis ) Type : Black-spotted palm-lance viper
Scientific name
Bothriechis nigroviridis
Peters , 1859

The black-spotted palm lance viper ( Bothriechis nigroviridis ), also black and yellow palm lance viper , is a type of palm lance viper ( Bothriechis ) within the pit vipers (Crotalinae). Their distribution area is limited to the mountainous regions of Costa Rica and Panama .

features

The black-spotted palm lance viper reaches a maximum body length of about 80 centimeters, with the average length being about 60 centimeters. It has a dark green or yellow-green basic color and has a pattern of black speckles and pale green and black-bordered spots. The belly side is yellowish green with black spots, the tail end is black. The head is also marked on the upper side by black spots and often also by stripes on the back of the head, there is a black temple band over the eyes. The iris is black.

distribution and habitat

The range of the snake is limited to the mountainous regions of Costa Rica and Panama . It lives in the cloud forests of the Cordilleras de Talamanca and the Cordillera Central at heights of 1,150 to 2,400 meters.

Systematics

The black-spotted palm lance viper is one of seven species of the palm lance viper ( Bothriechis ) and thus the American pit viper. Until a few years ago, the entire genus was assigned to the American lance otters ( Bothrops ). After the revision of the former large genus by Burger in 1971 and Steven D. Werman in 1992, it was assigned as a separate genus.

Within the palm lance viper, the black-spotted palm lance viper is a very basal species, which is regarded as a sister species of all other palm lance vipers with the exception of the prehensile-tailed lance viper ( B. schlegeli ):

NN

Ophryacus undulatus (as sister species)   Palm lance vipers    Raptic lance viper ( B. schlegelii )   NN    Black-spotted palm-lance viper ( B. nigroviridis )   NN     NN    Rowley's palm lance viper ( B. rowleyi )      Yellow-spotted palm lance viper ( B. aurifer )   NN     NN    Green and yellow palm lance viper ( B. lateralis )      Two-colored palm lance viper ( B. bicolor )      March's palm lance viper ( B. marchi )

Snake venom

Pit viper poisons contain a mixture of enzymes , low molecular weight polypeptides , metal ions and other components whose function has not yet been fully understood. The effects of these poisons are correspondingly diverse. As with all species of the genus, the venom of the black-spotted palm lance viper has tissue-destroying and neurotoxic components.

literature

• Brian L. Crother, Jonathan A. Campbell, David M. Hillis: Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of the Palm-Pitvipers, Genus Bothriechis : Biochemical and Morphological Evidence. In: Jonathan A. Campbell, Edmund D. Brodie Jr. (Eds.): Biology of the Pitvipers. Selva, Tyler (Texas), 1992; Pp. 1-20, ISBN 0-9630537-0-1

Web links

Commons : Bothriechis nigroviridis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bothriechis nigroviridis in The Reptile Database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Steven D. Werman: Phylogenitic Relationships of Central and South American Pitvipers of the Genus Bothrops (sensu lato): Cladistic Analyzes of Biochemical and Anatomical Characters. In: Jonathan A. Campbell, Edmund D. Brodie Jr .: The Biology of the Pitvipers. Selva, Tyler (Texas) 1992; Pp. 21-40, ISBN 0-9630537-0-1