Hypnale hypnale (MERREM, 1820)
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Hypnale hypnale
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Hump-nosed Moccasin G: Indische Nasenotter |
| Synonym | Cophias hypnale MERREM 1820: 155 Trigonocephalus hypnale — SCHLEGEL 1837 Hypnale hypnale — FITZINGER 1843 Trigonocephalus hypnale — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1498 Hypnale affinis ANDERSON 1871: 20 Ancistrodon hypnale — BOULENGER 1890 (part.) Ancistrodon millardi WALL 1908: 792 Ancistrodon millardi — WALL 1919: 578 Ancistrodon hypnale — SMITH 1943: 499 Hypnale hypnale — WELCH 1994: 67 Hypnale hypnale — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 310 Hypnale hypnale — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004 Hypnale hypnale — WALLACH et al. 2014: 343 |
| Distribution | Sri Lanka, India (Western Ghats, Kerala, Karnataka (Castle Rock) [A. Captain, pers. Comm.], Tamil Nadu) Type locality: Ceylon = Sri Lanka (designated by SCHLEGEL 1837: 550), see comment. Type locality of neotype: Castle Rock in Karnataka State, India, 15º23’52”N, 74º19’56” E, alt. 620 m). |
| Reproduction | ovoviviparous |
| Types | Neotype: BNHS = BNHM 2531:759 (designated by Maduwage et al. 2009), Female; the neotype is also the lectotype of Ancistrodon millardi Wall, 1908. Other specimens: TNHM (Kerala), see Ganesh et al. 2025. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Hypnale hypnale is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters; snout tip not raised, no wart-like protuberance at tip of snout (Fig. 1a); 3–5 minute scales between rostral and anterior border of internasals (Fig. 1b); 5–15 heterogeneous scales on internasal-prefrontal region (Fig. 1b); 6 scales surrounding eye (supraocular + 2 postoculars + 2 preoculars + postfoveal) (Fig. 1a); 4–5 scales surrounding maxillary pit (lower preocular + postfoveal + lacunal + upper edge of second supralabial or lower preocular + postfoveal + lacunal + upper edge of second supralabial + loreal) (Fig. 1a); 2 postoculars, the upper one small, the lower one crescentic, reaching postfoveal; no scales between postfoveal and 3rd supralabial (Fig. 1a); lower postocular, 1st lower temporal, 4th and 5th supralabials in contact, no scale between them. Supralabials, 7 or 8; lacunal present (surrounded by loreal + 1st supralabial + 2nd supralabial + maxillary pit + tip of lower preocular). Costal scales keeled (Fig. 1g); ventrals, 141–158; subcaudal series divided medially, with 26–47 scales. Lobes of hemipenes smooth, lacking spines (Fig. 1d). It is distinguished from H. nepa by lacking (vs possessing) a wart-like protuberance at the tip of the snout; lacking scales (vs possessing 1–3 scales) between postfoveal and 3rd supralabial; having the lower postocular, 1st lower temporal, 4th and 5th supralabials in contact, with no scale between them (vs separated by a rhomboid scale of similar size); having the costal scales keeled (vs smooth) in mid-dorsal region; possessing 141–158 (vs 122–134) ventrals; and having the lobes of hemipenes smooth, lacking spines (vs hemipenial lobes with large spines on proximal two-thirds of their length). Hypnale hypnale is distinguished from H. zara by having the snout tip not raised (vs distinctly elevated); 3–5 minute scales between rostral and anterior border of internasals (vs 10–19 minute scales forming a wartlike protuberance at the snout tip); 5–15 (vs 18–39) heterogeneous scales on the internasal-prefrontal region; 4–5 (vs 3) scales surrounding the maxillary pit; and possessing (vs lacking) a lacunal scale. It is also distinguished from Hypnale sp. ‘amal’ by having 7–8 (vs 9) supralabials; the first infralabials separated from each other by a median suture (vs medially fused); and two rows of dark, bilaterally symmetrical blotches meeting on dorsal midline (vs a distinct paravertebral stripe, about 3 scales wide, extending from neck to level of vent). (Maduwage et al. 2009) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 4756 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Venomous! Distribution: The original type locality was given as “Levante” and “Archipelago, Arabia, Aegypto”, both in error. Type species: Cophias hypnale MERREM 1820 is the type species of the genus Hypnale FITZINGER 1843. Generic disgnosis in Gloyd & Conant, 1990: 407. Genome: Ruchira et al. 2025. |
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