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Protobothrops jerdonii (GÜNTHER, 1875)

IUCN Red List - Protobothrops jerdonii - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesProtobothrops jerdonii jerdonii (GÜNTHER 1875)
Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti (KLEMMER 1963)
Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas (GÜNTHER 1889) 
Common NamesE: Jerdon’s pitviper (bourreti: Bourret’s pitviper, xanthomelas: Red spotted pitviper)
Chinese: 菜花原矛头蝮 
SynonymTrimeresurus jerdonii GÜNTHER 1875
Trimeresurus xanthomelas GÜNTHER 1889: 221
Lachesis jerdoni — VENNING 1910: 775
Trimeresurus jerdoni — SMITH 1943: 510
Protobothrops jerdonii — HOGE & ROMANO-HOGE 1983
Protobothrops jerdonii — TU et al. 2000
Trimeresurus jerdoni — SHARMA 2004
Protobothrops jerdonii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 572

Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti (KLEMMER 1963)
Trimeresurus jerdonii meridionalis BOURRET 1935: 248 (non T. monticola meridionalis BOURRET 1935)
Trimeresurus jerdonii bourreti KLEMMER 1963 (nom. nov.)
Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti — ORLOV et al. 2001
Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti — ORLOV et al. 2003
Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004
Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti — ORLOV et al. 2009

Protobothrops jerdonii jerdonii (GÜNTHER 1875)
Trimeresurus jerdonii GÜNTHER 1875
Lachesis jerdonii BOULENGER 1896
Lachesis melli VOGT 1922: 143
Lachesis melli — MELL 1922: 126
Protobothrops jerdonii jerdonii — WELCH 1994: 103
Protobothrops jerdonii jerdonii — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004

Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas (GÜNTHER 1889)
Trimeresurus xanthomelas GÜNTHER 1889
Trimeresurus jerdonii xanthomelas MASLIN 1942
Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas — WELCH 1994: 103
Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004
Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas — ORLOV et al. 2009
Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas — LOVE 2010 
DistributionIndia (Assam; Arunachal Pradesh (Siddi (= Gandhigram) – Changlang district) [A. Captain, pers. Comm.], Nagaland, Manipur and many other regions), Nepal, Bhutan,
N Myanmar (= Burma), N Vietnam (Yen Bai, Lai Chau etc.),
SW China (east to Guangxi and Hubei, north to Henan and west to Gansu; Yunnan, Sichuan), elevation 1200-1470 m

jerdonii: India (Assam), Myanmar (= Burma), China (Yunnan)
meridionalis: N Vietnam; Type locality: Khasi Hills, India.

melli (invalid): China (Yunnan); Type locality: „West-jünnan, auf Bergweg durch Buschwald zwischen Shiu-djün und Dschau-dschou, Seehöhe 2700 m“.

xanthomelas: China (Sichuan, Hupeh), India (Arunachal Pradesh)  
ReproductionOnly member of Protobothrops that is ovovivparous. 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 196.1.18.66–68)
Syntypes: MNHN-RA 1935.0114 and MNHN-RA 1938.0151 (syntypes have Bourret's field tags: "M.507-508, X.674") [bourreti]
Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.19.36-40 (formerly BMNH 1886.6.25.13-17) [xanthomelas]
Holotype: ZMB 48664, collected 29. VII. 1914 by Rudolf Emil Mell (F. Tillack, pers. comm., 26 May 2020), shown in gumprecht et al. 2004: 124. Sometimes given (erroneously) as CAS 64271 (syntype), in exchange from Robert Mertens [Lachesis melli] 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS (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. [after LEVITON 2003] 
CommentVenomous!

Subspecies: The subspecies meridionalis is not recognized by GUMPRECHT et al. 2004.

Distribution: Possibly in Bhutan (Lenz 2012). See map in Guo et a. 2016: 383 (Fig. 1).

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Mimicry: Elaphe xiphodonta appears to be a mimic of Protobothrops jerdonii (Qi et al. 2021). 
EtymologyNamed after Thomas Claverhill Jerdon (1811-1872), British physician, zoologist, and botanist who became an Assistant Surgeon in the East India Company. 
References
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