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Bothrops asper (GARMAN, 1883)

IUCN Red List - Bothrops asper - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Terciopelo
G: Rauhschuppige Lanzenotter
S: Víbora Equis 
SynonymTrigonocephalus asper GARMAN 1883: 124
Trigonocephalus xanthogrammus COPE 1868: 110
Bothrops atrox septentrionalis MÜLLER 1885: 699
Bothrops quadriscutatus POSADA-ARANGO 1889: 345
Lachesis xanthogrammus — BOULENGER 1896
Bothrops xanthogrammus — AMARAL 1930: 24
Bothrops atrox asper — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945
Bothrops atrox asper — TAYLOR 1949: 215
Bothrops asper — HOGE 1966: 113
Bothrops asper — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 43
Bothrops xanthogrammus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 55
Bothrops asper — LINER 1994
Bothrops atrox xanthogrammus — SCHÄTTI & KRAMER 1993
Bothrops xanthogrammus — WELCH 1994: 35
Bothrops asper — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 254
Bothrops asper — FENWICK et al. 2009
Bothrops asper — CARRASCO et al. 2012
Bothrops asper — WALLACH et al. 2014: 115
Bothrops asper — CURLIS et al. 2020 
DistributionS Mexico (Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Puebla, Quéretaro, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Tamaulipas southwards), Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Colombia (incl. Valle del Cauca), W Ecuador, Venezuela; elevation (Honduras): 880-1160 m, 0-1500 m (Colombia)

Type locality: Obispo, Darién, Panama.  
Reproductionovoviviparous with up to 90 newborns 
TypesSyntypes: MCZ 2718, 2 specimens
Holotype: ANSP 9978; Ecuador, Pallatanga (formerly at USNM) [xanthogrammus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: “De esta especie se revisaron 20 especímenes, 10 hembras y 10 machos provenientes todos de distintas localidades del departamento de Cauca al Oeste de la Cordillera Occidental y uno de Tumaco en la Costa Pacífica de Nariño (Mapas 1 y 2). Los ejemplares adultos son robustos y en el dorso presentan de 18 a 25 figuras triangulares oscuras (negro a café) en forma de equis, mariposas o corbatines; con bordes claros (gris a crema) a cada lado del cuerpo (Figuras 2 y 3) la zona inferior de la boca suele ser de color amarillo y el vientre de color crema uniforme. Los machos pueden medir hasta 160 cm y las hembras hasta 250 cm (Campbell y Lamar, 1989). Los juveniles machos tienen una coloración amarilla ó blanca en la punta de la cola (los últimos 10 a 20 mm). Una vez adultos, no hay una diferencia física externa que diferencie el macho de la hembra a excepción de un ensanchamiento en la base de la cola a la altura de la cloaca en los machos, debido a la presencia de los hemipenes. La cabeza es grande y se diferencia del cuello. El ojo es mediano y tiene una pupila elíptica. Tiene de 7 a 8 escamas supralabiales, de 8 a 12 escamas infralabiales, 1 escama loreal, 3 escamas preoculares, 2 a 4 escamas postoculares, 23 a 33 filas de escamas dorsales a medio cuerpo, escamas ventrales en machos 161-216, en hembras 187-240, Escamas subcaudales en machos 57-81, en hembras 46-70, una placa anal única. Tiene una raya oscura desde la parte postocular hasta el ángulo de la boca. El cuerpo tiene una forma ligeramente triangular. Las escamas dorsales son fuertemente guilladas, por eso el nombre específico es asper, la palabra en latín para áspero. Los termo-receptores se encuentran a la misma distancia de los ojos y la fosa nasal y está en contacto con la segunda escama supralabial, la escama mental es ligeramente más larga que ancha, la escama rostral presenta forma hexagonal, las escamas geneiales se presentan en disposición 2+2.” (Folleco-Fernández 2010).


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CommentVenomous! The most dangerous venomous snake in Central America.

Distribution: Has often been confused with B. atrox and hence erroneously reported from Trinidad and El Salvador (W. Wüster, pers. comm.). Populations of the northern South American are Bothrops colombiensis, while the distribution of asper is Central America and part of the Pacific, hence not in Venezuela (Luis Esqueda, pers. comm., 21 April 2016, see also Natera-Mumaw et al. 2015). See map in Saldarriaga-Córdoba et al. 2017: Fig. 1

Nomenclature: The name xanthogrammus has priority over asper but asper is used by many authors inorder to maintain nomenclatural stability. See discussion in McDiarmid et al. (1999: 255).

Synonymy partly after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970. CAmpbell & Lamar 1992 synonymized Trigonocephalus xanthogrammus with B. asper.

Relative abundance in Honduras: common; causes most snake bites in Costa Rica.

Diversity: Across Mesoamerica, B. asper populations show remarkable differences in natural history traits, morphological variation, venom composition, and biological effects of venoms. Nevertheless, Saldarriaga-Córdoba et al. (2017) refrained from proposing any taxonomic changes for these B. asper lineages at present, as their phylogenetic relationships with the B. atrox group remains unclear.

Genome: Colston et al. 2025. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “asper” = rough, in reference to the nasty temper of the snake, or to the roughness of the keeled scales on the dorsum. 
References
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