Bothrocophias campbelli
Bothrocophias campbelli, commonly known as Campbell's toadheaded viper[3] or the Ecuadorian toadheaded pitviper, is a species of venomous pitviper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to South America.[4] No subspecies are currently recognized.[5]
| Bothrocophias campbelli | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Genus: | Bothrocophias |
| Species: | B. campbelli |
| Binomial name | |
| Bothrocophias campbelli Freire-Lascano, 1991 | |
| Synonyms | |
Etymology
Bothrocophias campbelli was named in honor of American herpetologist Jonathan A. Campbell.[3]
Description
The total length (including tail) of the specimens of B. campbelli which are available ranges from the type specimen, an adult male 87.0 cm (34 1⁄4 in) (Freire-Lascano, 1991), to 105.7 cm (41 5⁄8 in) for a large gravid female (Freire-Lascano and Kuch, 2000), to 121.9 cm (48.0 in) for a specimen from Imbabura, Ecuador, and another of 123.0 cm (48 3⁄8 in) from the type locality.[4]
The scalation includes 21–25 (usually 23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, all of which are keeled except for the first rows. The posterior dorsals have tubercular keels, even in small specimens, while in large specimens these keels are highly elevated. There are 152-167/159-177 ventral scales in males/females and 51-64/48-60 paired subcaudal scales in males/females. On the head there are 3–8 intersupraocular scales, 7–8 supralabial scales, the second of which is usually fused with the prelacunal to form a lacunolabial, and 9–10 (usually 9) sublabial scales.[4]
Geographic range
Bothrocophias campbelli is found in the Pacific lowlands and slopes from west-central Colombia to Ecuador. The type locality given is "Recinto Huagal-Sacramento, cantón Pallatanga, Provincia de Chimborazo, Ecuador. 1500–2000 mts. de altura [4,900–6,600 feet]".[1]
Taxonomy
In previous accounts, Bothrocophias campbelli has often been included in Bothrops pulcher (W. Peters, 1862), e.g., Lachesis pulcher — Boulenger, 1896, Bothrops pulchra — Amaral, 1923, and Bothrops pulcher — J.Peters & Orejas-Miranda, 1970. Campbell and Lamar (1992) considered Bothrocophias campbelli to be a junior synonym of Bothrops pulcher, but their concept of the latter taxon was incorrect. Schätti and Kramer (1993) argued that Bothrops campbelli (Freire-Lascano, 1991) was a nomen invalidum and suggested a new name, Porthidium almawebi, as a replacement. However, it is clear that Freire-Lascano's (1991) scientific name is valid and has priority over the one proposed by Schätti and Kramer (1993).[1]
Gutberlet and Campbell (2001) moved this taxon to a new genus: Bothrocophias (toadheaded pitvipers).[4]
References
- McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- "Bothrocophias campbelli ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Bothrocophias campbelli, p. 46).
- Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp. 1,500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
- "Bothrocophias campbelli ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
Further reading
- Freire-Lascano A (1991). "Dos nuevas especies de Bothrops en el Ecuador ". Publicaciones de Trabajos Científicos del Ecuador, Universidad Técnica de Machala 2: 1–11. (Bothrops campbelli, new species). (in Spanish).
External links
- Bothrocophias campbelli at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 27 August 2007.