Craspedocephalus wiroti (TRUTNAU, 1981)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Craspedocephalus wiroti?
Craspedocephalus wiroti
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Wirot’s Pit Viper G: Wirot-Bambusotter |
| Synonym | Trimeresurus wiroti TRUTNAU 1981: 188 Trimeresurus wiroti — DAVID et al. 2006 Trimeresurus (Craspedocephalus) wiroti — DAVID et al. 2011 Craspedocephalus wiroti — WALLACH et al. 2014: 189 Craspedocephalus wiroti — MIRZA et al. 2023 |
| Distribution | Thailand, West Malaysia Type locality: “Khao Wang Range, at an elevation of between 500 and 1196 m, near villages of [...] Ban Hui Hip and Amphoe Lan Saka” (Trutnau, 1981, translated from German), Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand. The type locality was precised by Nutphand et al. (1991: 151) as: “Ban Hui Hip near Khlong Wang Hip, Amphoe Chawang, Changwat Nakhon Si Thammarat (Hui Hip village near Wang Hip canal, Chawang County, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province), approximately 8°30’N, 99°30’E”, Thailand. |
| Reproduction | oviparous (MEHRTENS 1987: 373). |
| Types | Holotype: SMF 69695, juvenile male (not female as stated in Nutphand et al., 1991); Collected by Wirot Nutphand, 20 June 1979; donated to SMF by Ludwig Trutnau, January 1980. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A species of the genus Trimeresurus, endemic to Peninsular Thailand and West Malaysia, characterized by the combination of the following characters: (1) an usually overall dark or very dark pattern, with 22–35 darker crossbands, related to the sex: in males, background colour in various shades of dark greyish-brown, with dark brown irregular dorsolateral blotches, with below an irregular, elongated smaller blotch of same colour; areas between the bloches darker than on the sides of body, heavily powdered with dark and light dots or blotches producing a confused pattern, but not lichen-like; in females, pattern less complex and often as dark or darker than in males, in shades of dark brown with darker subrectangular dorsolateral blotches, without the dotted pattern but with broad darker edges and a wide lighter centre producing a “saddle-like” pattern; males have a more complex pattern, but are as dark as females (2) a distinctly projected and raised snout, strongly obliquely truncated when seen from the side, subrectangular seen from above; (3) internasals projected, strongly spatulate and bilobate, distinctly upturned; (4) usually 21 (rarely 19, 20 or 23) DSR at midbody; (5) 1st supralabial distinct from nasal; (6) 2nd supralabials bordering the whole of the anterior margin of the loreal pit; (7) 2 to 4 small and narrow supraoculars, convex or granular and raised; (8) VEN: 159–167 in males and 158–167 in females, SC: 43–56; (9) occipital and temporal scales moderately keeled or smooth in both sexes in adults, usually smooth in juvenile specimens; (10) IL of the first pair not in contact each with the other; and (11) hemipenes short, reaching 9th SC, with spines [from DAVID et al. 2006]. |
| Comment | Venomous! Authorship: Trutnau 1981 said in his book about keeping snakes that Konrad Klemmer is “planning” to describe this species (which apparently never happened) and then just described it, including a photo, so he is technically the author. However, some sources, such as Wallach et al. 2014 list the species as “Craspedocephalus wiroti (Klemmer in Trutnau, 1981)”. Synonymy: Has been previously synonymized with Trimeresurus borneensis. Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). |
| Etymology | Named after Wirot Nutaphand, the collector of the type. |
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