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Trimeresurus yunnanensis SCHMIDT, 1925

IUCN Red List - Trimeresurus yunnanensis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Yunnan Bamboo pitviper
Chinese: 云南竹叶青蛇
E: Gumprecht’s green pitviper
Chinese: 冈氏竹叶青蛇 [gumprechti] 
SynonymTrimeresurus yunnanensis SCHMIDT 1925: 4
Trimeresurus stejnegeri yunnanensis POPE 1935
Trimeresurus stejnegeri yunnanensis — ZHAO & ADLER 1993
Trimeresurus stejnegeri yunnanensis — WELCH 1994: 117
Trimeresurus yunnanensis — ZHAO 1995
Trimeresurus yunnanensis — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004
Trimeresurus yunnanensis —AO et al. 2004
Viridovipera yunnanensis — MALHOTRA & THORPE 2004
Viridovipera yunnanensis — GUO et al. 2006
Viridovipera yunnanensis — DAWSON et al. 2008
Trimeresurus (Viridovipera) yunnanensis — DAVID et al. 2011
Viridovipera yunnanensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 791
Viridovipera yunnanensis — GUO et al. 2018
Trimeresurus yunnanensis — RATHEE et al. 2022
Viridovipera yunnanensis — WANG et al. 2022
Trimeresurus (Viridovipera) yunnanensis — MIRZA et al. 2023
Trimeresurus cf. yunnanensis — WANGYAL et al. 2026

Trimeresurus gumprechti DAVID, VOGEL, PAUWELS & VIDAL 2002
Trimeresurus gumprechti — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004
Viridovipera gumprechti — MALHOTRA & THORPE 2004
Viridovipera gumprechti — DAWSON et al. 2008
Trimeresurus (Viridovipera) gumprechti — DAVID et al. 2011
Viridovipera gumprechti — WALLACH et al. 2014: 790
Viridovipera gumprechti — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 288
Viridovipera gumprechti — GUO et al. 2018
Viridovipera gumprechti — WANG et al. 2022
Trimeresurus gumprechti— RATHEE et al. 2022
Trimeresurus (Viridovipera) gumprechti — MIRZA et al. 2023
Viridovipera gumprechti — MALHOTRA et al. 2025 
DistributionS China (Yunnan and southwestern Sichuan), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam (Hoa Binh, Bac Giang, Cao Bang), Myanmar

elevations up to 2845 m

Type locality: Tengyueh [=Tengchiong Co.], Yunnan, China.

gumprechti (invalid): NE Thailand (Loei, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun and Chaiyaphum), Laos, Vietnam (Hoa Binh, Bac Giang, Cao Bang), China (Yunnan), Myanmar; Type locality: Phu Luang Wildlife Research Station, about 15 km northwest of the City of Phu Luang and 45 km southwest of the City of Loei, Loei Province, Thailand.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: AMNH 21058
Holotype: MNHN-RA 1999.9072; paratypes: ZFMK 68524, MNHN-RA 1999.9073, PSUAA 0047, RFI 1345 [gumprechti] 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS (DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS). Scales in 19 (rarely 21) longitudinal rows at midbody and 19(–21) on neck; 9–10 (rarely 11) upper labials, first upper labials separated from nasals by a distinct suture; a single narrow supraocular, sometimes divided by transverse suture; 11–16 scales in a line between supraoculars; above bright to dark green, below pale green to whitish, the two separated by a bicolored orange or brown (below) and white (above) (males) or white only or absent (females) ventrolateral stripe, which occupies the whole of the outermost scale row and a portion of the second row; ventrals 155–165 (–170); subcaudals (58–) 61–68, all paired; hemipenes short, spinose beyond bifurcation. Total length 750 mm, tail length 145 mm. [after LEVITON 2003]


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CommentVenomous!

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

Distribution: the single record from India (Meghalaya) is from 1919 (specimen in BNHS, fide GBIF). Not in India fide Mohapatra et al. 2024 (ZSI checklist). A recent IUCN assessment by Lau & Zhou (2022) restricted the species to SW China. Previously reported from N Myanmar, India (Meghalaya, Nagaland), Bhutan.

Synonymy: T. gumprechti is related to T. stejnegeri, with which it was formerly confused. Liang et al. 2025 formally synonymized gumprechti with yunnanensis.

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

NCBI taxonID: 240363 [gumprechti]
RDB speciesID: 19476 [gumprechti]

Etymology (gumprechti): Named after Andreas Gumprecht, German herpetologist. 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality in Yunnan Province. 
References
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