Bothriechis rasikusumorum ARTEAGA, PYRON, BATISTA, VIEIRA, MENESES-PELAYO, SMITH, BARRIO-AMORÓS, KOCH, AGNE, VALENCIA, BUSTAMANTE & HARRIS, 2024
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Bothriechis rasikusumorum
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Shah’s Eyelash-Pitviper G: Shahs Lanzenotter S: Víbora de pestañas de los Shah; local Spanish name: Culebra de tiro |
| Synonym | Bothriechis rasikusumorum ARTEAGA, PYRON, BATISTA, VIEIRA, MENESES-PELAYO, SMITH, BARRIO-AMORÓS, KOCH, AGNE, VALENCIA, BUSTAMANTE, HARRIS 2024: 45 |
| Distribution | Colombia (upper watershed of the Río Magdalena in Huila department, eastern slope of Cordillera Central, Cordillera Oriental, elevations 1,298–2,180 m) Type locality: Vereda El Regenero, Huila department, Colombia (1.82023, -75.99867; 1616 m elevation |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: CZUT-R 349 (Fig. 22), adult male collected by Hugo Hernández. Paratypes: See Suppl. material 1 in Arteaga et al. 2024. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Bothriechis rasikusumorum sp. nov. is diagnosed based on the following combination of characters: (1) supraciliary scales low and granular, or two pointy but not raised; (2) anterior dorsal head scales smooth; (3) gular scales similar in size to chinshields; (4) 5–10 interoculolabials; (5) 2–3 canthals which may be flat or slightly raised forming a ridge along the canthus; (6) loreal not in contact with preocular; (7) yellow morph absent; (8) dorsal bands dark brown or black; (9) opposing kidney shaped dorsal marks absent; (10) black speckles on dorsal scales present; (11) black speckling on ventral surfaces prominent posteriorly; (12) ventral surfaces never entirely white; (13) iris light green, yellow, or reddish brown with black reticulations; (14) 21–23 dorsal scale rows at mid-body; (15) 144–152 ventrals in males, 152–153 in females; (16) maximum total length in males 650 mm, in females 799 mm. (Arteaga et al. 2024: 45) |
| Comment | Venomous! Synonymy: Reyes-Velasco 2024 argued that B. torvus, B. khwargi, B. klebbai, B. rasikusumorum, B. rahimi, B. nitidus, B. torvus, and B. hussaini should be synonymized with B. schlegelii, given their genetic and morphological similarity. Reyes-Velasco 2024 thus argued that only B. nigroadspersus, B. schlegelii, and B. supraciliaris should be maintained. We agree that the former 5 species are not very much differentiated from B. schlegelii and should be considered preliminary species. We have not adopted Reyes-Velasco’s revision yet as there are reportedly other studies in the process of publication, hence the taxonomy of Bothriechis is in flux and more changes are likely to come soon. |
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