Bothrops lanceolatus BONNATERRE, 1790
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Bothrops lanceolatus
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Martinique Lancehead |
| Synonym | Vipera cærulescens LAURENTI 1768 (nom. oblitum) Coluber glaucus GMELIN 1789 (nom. subst., nom. oblit.) Coluber lanceolatus LACÉPÈDE 1789: 80 (nom. suppress.) Coluber Lanceolatus BONNATERRE 1790: 10 Coluber brasiliensis BONNATERRE 1790 Coluber tigrinus BONNATERRE 1790 Coluber megaera SHAW 1802 Bothrops lanceolatus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1505 Lachesis lanceolatus — BARBOUR 1905: 101 Bothrops lanceolata — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 593 Bothrops lanceolatus — WELCH 1994: 33 Bothrops lanceolatus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 264 Bothrops lanceolatus — FENWICK et al. 2009 Bothrops lanceolatus — CARRASCO et al. 2012 Bothrops lanceolatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 117 |
| Distribution | Lesser Antilles: Martinique Type locality: Unknown; restricted to Morne Capot, between Ajoupa-Bouillon and Le Lorrain, Martinique, by Lazell, 1964. Vipera cærulescens: type locality: “Martinica” (= Martinique) |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Syntypes: lost. Holotype: unlocated, fide Bauer & Powell 2024 [Vipera cærulescens] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Bothrops differs from other South American pitvipers in 50 mitochondrial characters (Table 4). In addition, Bothrops species generally have four palatine teeth, which is a morphological synapomorphy of the genus (B. moojeni and B. j South American genera by having higher numbers of ventrals (157–236 and 153–227, respectively, compared with 125–206), and by having the prelacunal fused to the second supralabial (also seen in Bothropoides jararaca, B. alcatraz, B. insularis, and in some Bothrocophias). Bothrops is distinguished from Bothriopsis in its brown to black coloration and lack of a prehensile tail, except for Bothrops osbornei and Bothrops punctatus with prehensile tails. These two Bothrops species occur west of the Andes, as opposed to Bothriopsis species that all range east of the Andes.araracussu have five; B. brazili and B. sanctaecrucis have three). Bothriopsis and Bothrops are distinguished from other South American genera by having higher numbers of ventrals (157–236 and 153–227, respectively, compared with 125–206), and by having the prelacunal fused to the second supralabial (also seen in Bothropoides jararaca, B. alcatraz, B. insularis, and in some Bothrocophias). Bothrops is distinguished from Bothriopsis in its brown to black coloration and lack of a prehensile tail, except for Bothrops osbornei and Bothrops punctatus with prehensile tails. These two Bothrops species occur west of the Andes, as opposed to Bothriopsis species that all range east of the Andes [from FENWICK et al. 2009]. |
| Comment | Venomous! Illustrations: see Lazell, 1964; Dowling, 1965; Pinchon, 1967; Gosner, 1987; Campbell and Lamar, 1989. Type species: Bothrops lanceolatus (Bonnaterre, 1790) is the type species of the genus Bothrops WAGLER 1824 (fide FENWICK et al. 2009). Species groups: Bothrops can be grouped into six evolutionary clades: B. alternatus clade, B. atrox clade, B. jararaca clade, B. jararacussu clade, B. pictus clade, B. neuwiedi clade, and B. taeniatus clade. For a phylogenetic analysis see Hamdan et al. 2019. Synonymy: The name Coluber lanceolatus is unavailable as a result of a ruling of the Commission (Opinion 1463). However, C. lanceolatus was made available by Bonnaterre in 1790 who proposed a homonymous poieonym (Bauer & Powell 2024). Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic names Daraninus Hoser 2012, Jackyhoserea Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected their use instead of Bothrops. Conservation: one of the 30 most endangered viper species (Maritz et al. 2016). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin lanceolatus, a, um, ‘lanceolate’, lancehead shape. La Cepède (1789:121–122) called this species so because of the shape of the head (Fretey 2023). The genus name is derived from the Greek bothros, referring to the facial pit, and ops, meaning either ‘eye’ or ‘face’. It refers to the loreal pit between the nostril and eye, and names ending in this suffix are masculine. |
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