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Calloselasma rhodostoma (KUHL, 1824)

IUCN Red List - Calloselasma rhodostoma - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Malayan Pit Viper
G: Malaiische Mokassin-Grubenotter
Thai: ngu tüng chāng, ngu tüng kabā 
Synonym[Trigonocephalus] rhodostoma KUHL 1824: 80
Trigonocephalus rhodostoma BOIE 1827
Trigonocephalus rhodostoma — MÜLLER & SCHLEGEL 1844: 50
Leiolepis rhodostoma — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1500
[Calloselasma] rhodostomus — COPE 1860: 336
Agkistrodon rhodostoma — DE ROOIJ 1917: 279
Agkistrodon rhodostoma — COCHRAN 1930
Agkistrodon rhodostoma — SWORDER 1933
Ancistrodon annamensis ANGEL 1933
Agkistrodon annamensis — BOURRET 1936
Ancistrodon rhodostoma — SMITH 1943: 497
Agkistrodon rhodostoma — TAYLOR 1965: 1058
Calloselasma rhodostoma — WELCH 1994: 41
Calloselasma rhodostoma — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 404
Calloselasma rhodostoma — COX et al. 1998: 19
Calloselasma rhodostoma — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 272
Calloselasma rhodostoma — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Calloselasma rhodostoma — WALLACH et al. 2014: 146
Calloselasma rhodostoma — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 283 
DistributionS Vietnam (Binh Thuan etc.), Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, W Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, possibly Borneo)

annamensis: SE Cambodia, Vietnam; Type locality: "Sud Annam: Vinh-Hoa, dans Ie Binh-Thuan (altitude: 30 m)" [Vinh Hoa, Annam, southern Vietnam].

Type locality: Java  
Reproductionoviparous; the eggshells of this species are very thin and thus may represent reversibility of viviparity. 
TypesHolotype: RMNH 1510 (existence and type status unclear fide Esther Dondorp, pers. comm. 28 Jan 2019)
Holotype: MNHN 1933-23 [annamensis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus and species): Stout-bodied snake rarely reaching more than 700 mm. in length; head large triangular; snout pointed; two anterior temporals, lower the larger; formula of scalerows: 21, 21 (19), 17 (15). Head with nine typical head scales above; a sensory pit between eye and nostril; an elongate subocular, touching two labials. (Taylor 1965: 1058)


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CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: partly after McDiarmid et al. 1999.

The first use of the name “rhodostoma” apparently was by H. Boie in an unpublished manuscript (Erpétologie de Java) which was cited in F. Boie's (1827) work. However, Kuhl (1824) actually publishid a formal description in 1824.

Type species: Trigonocephalus rhodostoma KUHL 1824: 80 is the type species of the genus Calloselasma COPE 1860 (1859).

Distribution: Possibly in Borneo (W Kalimantan) based on observations published on Facebook (Björn Lardner, pers. comm., 22 July 2024). 
EtymologyNamed after Greek rhodon (ῥόδον) (a rose, hence red), and Greek stoma = mouth.

The genus was apparently named after Greek kallos (καλλως) = beauty and Greek elasma = (metal) plate, wall. 
References
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