Protobothrops jerdonii

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Jerdon's Pit Viper

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Genus:	Protobothrops
Species:	P. jerdonii

Binomial name

Protobothrops jerdonii
(Günther, 1875)

Synonyms

Trimeresurus jerdonii

Jerdon's Pit Viper Protobothrops jerdonii is a species of snake. (race bourreti called Bourret's Pit Viper and race xanthomelas is called the Red spotted Pit Viper) DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS: Scales in 21 longitudinal rows at midbody (rarely 23); snout length a little more than twice diameter of eye; head above, except for large internasals and supraoculars, covered by small, unequal, smooth scales that are feebly imbricate or juxtaposed; first labial completely separated from nasal by a suture; internasals separated by 1-2 small scales; 6-9 small scales in line between supraoculars; 7-8 upper labials, third and fourth beneath eye, in contact with subocular or separated by at most a single series of small scales; ventrals (see Remarks below): males 164-188, females 167-193; subcaudals: males 50-78, females 44-76. Total length males 835 mm, females 990 mm; tail length males 140 mm, females 160 mm. Venomous. Only member of Protobothrops that is viviparous. The subspecies meridionalis is not recognized by Gumprecht et al. 2004.

Distribution: India (Assam; Arunachal Pradesh (Siddi (= Gandhigram) - Changlang district) [A. Captain, pers. Comm.] and many other regions), Nepal, N Myanmar (= Burma), N Vietnam, SW China (east to Guangxi and Hubei, north to Henan and west to Gansu; Yunnan, Szechwan) jerdonii: India (Assam), Myanmar (= Burma), China (Yunnan) meridionalis: N Vietnam; Type locality: Khasi Hills, India. xanthomelas: China (Szechwan, Hupeh)

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[edit] References

Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp.
Gumprecht, A.; Tillack, F.; Orlov, N.L.; Captain, A. & Ryabow, S. 2004 Asian Pit Vipers. Geitje Books, Berlin, 368 pp.
Günther,A. 1875 Second report on collections of Indian Reptiles obtained bv the British Museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. London,1875: 224-234.