Metlapilcoatlus indomitus (SMITH & FERRARI-CASTRO, 2008)
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Metlapilcoatlus indomitus
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Atropoides indomitus E.N. SMITH & FERRARI-CASTRO 2008 Atropoides mexicanus — ESPINAL et al. in JOHNSON et al. 2001: 103 Atropoides mexicanus — WILSON et al. in JOHNSON et al. 2001 (part.) Atropoides mexicanus — MARINEROS 2000: 143 (part.) Atropoides mexicanus — CAMPBELL and LAMAR 2004: 281 (part) Atropoides occiduus — CASTOE et al. 2005: 884 Atropoides indomitus — JADIN et al. 2009 Atropoides indomitus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 85 Metlapilcoatlus indomitus — CAMPBELL et al. 2019 Metlapilcoatlus indomitus — MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA et al. 2024 |
| Distribution | Honduras (Sierra de Botaderos and La Muralla), Nicaragua Type locality: near the edge of Quebrada de Botaderos, Montaña de Botaderos, Departamento de Colón, Honduras, 670 m elevation (15°26’03.4” N, 86°08’37.3” W). |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: UTA R-52952, an adult male, The University of Texas at Arlington, collected between 17 and 22 May 2002 by J. A. Ferrari-Castro. Paratype: USNM. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (from abstract): The new species is easily distinguished from all other members of the genus, except A. picadoi from Costa Rica and Panama, by possessing more ventral scales (140 vs. 3–138). This new species differs from A. picadoi in being relatively small, less than 600 mm in total length (vs. reaching > 750 mm), having the posterior third of the body venter heavily melanized (vs. more than 50%), less than 50% of the underside of the tail melanized, and the postorbital stripe covering more than 50% of only one or two scales from the first temporal row and covering completely only the last scale of the row, at most (vs. 3–4 more than 50% melanized and the last two scales in the row usually completely melanized). In addition to morphological characters, molecular evidence also differentiates this new species from the other species of Atropoides (as recognized by Castoe et al. 2005). Using mitochondrial gene sequence data, they found the new species described herein to represent the sister species of A. occiduus, with 5.7 % sequence divergence separating these two taxa. |
| Comment | Venomous! Conservation: one of the 30 most endangered viper species (Maritz et al. 2016). Distribution: For a map of localities see Tepos-Ramírez et al. 2021: Fig. 1. |
| Etymology | from the Latin adjective indomitabilis, meaning “that which can not be conquered.” This name is given for two reasons: to honor Hondurans, who maintain a strong spirit, despite extreme hardships, and to credit the project “Honduras Indomita” that lead to the discovery of this species. |
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