Garthius
Garthius chaseni commonly known as Chasen's mountain pit viper,[4] Chasen's tree viper,[5] and the Kinabalu brown pit viper,[6] is a species of venomous pitviper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the island of Borneo in Malaysia.[1][3] No subspecies are currently recognized.[3][7] It is monotypic in the genus Garthius.
| Garthius | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Subfamily: | Crotalinae |
| Genus: | Garthius Malhotra & Thorpe, 2004 |
| Species: | G. chaseni |
| Binomial name | |
| Garthius chaseni (M.A. Smith, 1931) | |
| Synonyms | |
Etymology
The generic name, Garthius, is in honor of British herpetologist Garth Underwood.[8]
The specific name, chaseni, is in honor of Frederick Nutter Chasen, who in 1931 was Curator of the Raffles Museum, Singapore.[8]
Description
Garthius chaseni is heavy-bodied, and may attain 65 cm (25 1⁄2 in) SVL (snout-vent length). Dorsally, it has a dark tan or reddish brown ground color, overlaid by dark brown crossbands, which are broken and alternating on the front part of the body, becoming regular on the posterior part. Ventrally, it is yellow and gray. It has two rows of small scales between the upper labials and the eye.[6]
Scalation includes: 19, 17, or 15 rows of dorsal scales at midbody; 130–143 ventral scales; 20–30 paired subcaudal scales; and 6 supralabial scales with the third being the highest.[4]
Geographic range
Garthius chaseni is only found on the island of Borneo, in northern Sabah (Malaysia) in the region of Mount Kinabalu.[1] The type locality given is "Kiau" (at the foot of Mt. Kinabalu, northern Borneo, ca. 915 m [3,000 feet]).[2][3] The known range is within the Crocker Range and Kinabalu National Parks.[1]
Habitat
Garthius chaseni is found in submontane forests, living in leaf litter on the forest floor at elevations between 915 and 1,550 m (3,002 and 5,085 ft) above sea level.[6]
References
- Das I (2012). "Garthius chaseni ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012: e.T190646A1956273. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T190646A1956273.en.
- 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).
- Garthius chaseni at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 September 2017.
- Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S (2004). Asian Pitvipers. First Edition. Berlin: GeitjeBooks. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
- Brown JH (1973). Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN 0-398-02808-7.
- Das, Indraneil (2006). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Borneo. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-061-1. (Garthius chaseni, p. 54).
- "Ovophis chaseni ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
- 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. (Garthius chaseni, p. 52; Pit-viper genus Garthius, p. 98).
Further reading
- Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (2004). "A phylogeny of four mitochondrial gene regions suggests a revised taxonomy for Asian pitvipers (Trimeresurus and Ovophis)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32 (1): 83-100. (Garthius, new genus).
- Smith MA (1931). "The Herpetology of Mt. Kinabalu, North Borneo". Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, Singapore 5: 8-32. (Trimeresurus chaseni, new species, p. 29).