Trimeresurus trigonocephalus
| Trimeresurus trigonocephalus |
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| Scientific classification |
| Kingdom: |
Animalia
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| Phylum: |
Chordata
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| Subphylum: |
Vertebrata
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| Class: |
Reptilia
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| Order: |
Squamata
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| Suborder: |
Serpentes
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| Family: |
Viperidae
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| Subfamily: |
Crotalinae
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| Genus: |
Trimeresurus
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| Species: |
T. trigonocephalus
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|
| Binomial name |
Trimeresurus trigonocephalus
(Donndorff, 1798) |
| Synonyms |
- Coluber capite-triangulatus - Lacépède, 1789
- Col[uber]. Trigonocephalus - Donndorff, 1798
- Vipera trigonocephala - Sonnini & Latreille, 1801
- Trigonocephalus nigromarginatus - Kuhl, 1820
- [Cophias] trigonocephalus - Merrem, 1820
- Trigonoceph[alus]. sagittiformis - Schinz, 1822
- Megaera trigonocephala - Wagler, 1830
- Megaera olivacea - Gray, 1842
- Bothrops nigromarginatus - A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854
- Trimeresurus trigonocephalus - Günther, 1864
- Lachesis trigonocephalus - Boulenger, 1896
- Lachesis trigonocephala - Boettger, 1898
- Trimeresurus capitetriangulatus - Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1981
- Coluber trogonocephalus - Golay et al., 1993[1]
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- Common names: Sri Lankan green pitviper.[2]
Trimeresurus trigonocephalus is a venomous pitviper species found in Sri Lanka. No subspecies are currently recognized.[3]
Description
A sexually dimporphic species, at a maximum of 70 cm in length the males are considerably smaller than females, which can grow to 130 cm. In addition, male tends to have a blue coloration, whereas the females are predominantly green. These are bulky snakes with a prehensile tail, suiting their arboreal lifestyle.
Geographic range
Found all over the island of Sri Lanka, from the lower altitudes to about 1,800 m (de Silva, 1980). The type locality given is "lîle S.-Eustache" (Sri Lanka).[1]
Behavior
This is not a particularly defensive species, but if agitated it will vibrate its tail tip and eventually strike.
Venom
The venom is primarily haemotoxic, with victims experiencing severe pain, swelling of the bitten area, oedema and localised tissue necrosis. However, fatalities have not been reported.
See also
References
- ^ a b McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- ^ Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
- ^ Trimeresurus trigonocephalus (TSN 634936). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 27 December 2007.
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