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Trimeresurus sumatranus (RAFFLES, 1822)

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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sumatra Pit Viper
G: Sumatra-Bambusotter 
SynonymColuber sumatranus RAFFLES 1822
Cophias wagleri SCHLEGEL 1826 (not BOIE 1827)
Coluber sumatrensis — BOIE 1826: 239
Trimesurus sumatranus — GRAY 1842: 48
Trigonocephalus formosus MÜLLER & SCHLEGEL 1842
Trigonocephalus formosus — MÜLLER & SCHLEGEL in TEMMINCK 1845: 52
Trigonocephalus sumatranus — CANTOR 1847: 1042
Trimeresurus formosus — GRAY 1849: 10
Bothrops formosus — BLEEKER 1858: 263
Trimeresurus formosus — BOULENGER 1885: 388
Bothrops sumatranus — LIDTH DE JEUDE 1886: 52
Trimeresurus (Trigonocephalus) formosus — MÜLLER 1887: 280
Lachesis sumatranus — BOULENGER 1896: 557 (part.)
Trimeresurus sumatranus — BARBOUR 1912: 201 (part.)
Lachesis sumatranus — DE ROOIJ 1917: 282
Trimeresurus sumatranus sumatranus — LOVERIDGE 1938: 45
Trimeresurus sumatranus — TAYLOR 1965: 1070
Trimeresurus sumatranus sumatranus — WELCH 1994: 117
Trimeresurus sumatranus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 345
Trimeresurus sumatranus — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004
Parias sumatranus — MALHOTRA & THORPE 2004
Trimeresurus (Parias) sumatranus — DAVID et al. 2011
Parias sumatranus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 538
Parias sumatranus — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 289
Parias sumatranus — GUO et al. 2018
Trimeresurus (Parias) sumatranus — MIRZA et al. 2023 
DistributionIndonesia (Borneo, Simalur = Simeulue, Nias, Mentawi, Sumatra, Bangka, Billiton = Belitung), W Malaysia, S Thailand

Type locality: Sumatra (Indonesia).  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesNeotype. ZFMK 76340, adult female, designated by VOGEL et al. 2014.
Holotype: unlocated (fide MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999)
Holotype: RMNH 1583, adult male [Trigonocephalus formosus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Large species reaching more than a meter in length; scales between supraoculars smooth; gular scales smooth; snout not raised above nostrils; supraoculars large separated by from four to nine scales; scalerows at mid-body, 21; tail, prehensile. (Taylor 1965: 1070)


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CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: after VOGEL et al. 2014.

Subspecies: Trimeresurus sumatranus malcolmi has been elevated to species status.

Distribution: Does occur in Thailand despite contradictory reports (GUMPRECHT & BULIAN 2003). Not in Singapore or not established there (Figueroa et al. 2023), although it was reported from there by David & Vogel 1996.

Similar species: Has often been confused with T. hageni (e.g in LIM 1982) or T. kanburiensis (KUNDERT 1984, Fig. 106).

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
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  • Barbour, Thomas 1912. A Contribution to the Zoögeography of the East Indian Islands. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy 44 (1): 1-203 - get paper here
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  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
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  • DAVID, PATRICK; GERNOT VOGEL & ALAIN DUBOIS 2011. On the need to follow rigorously the Rules of the Code for the subsequent designation of a nucleospecies (type species) for a nominal genus which lacked one: the case of the nominal genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae). Zootaxa 2992: 1–51 - get paper here
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  • Gumprecht, A.; Ryabov, S.; Orlov, N.; Shiryaev, K.; Panteleev, D. & Tepedelen, K. 2003. Die Grubenottern der Gattung Trimeresurus LACÉPÈDE Teil VII: Anmerkungen zur biologie, Haltung und Nachzucht von Trimeresurus sumatranus (RAFFLES 1822). Sauria 25 (1): 37-44 - get paper here
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