Protobothrops himalayanus PAN, CHETTRI, YANG, JIANG, WANG, ZHANG & VOGEL, 2013
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Protobothrops himalayanus
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | Chinese: 喜山原矛头蝮 |
| Synonym | Protobothrops himalayanus PAN, CHETTRI, YANG, JIANG, WANG, ZHANG & VOGEL 2013 Protobothrops jerdoni — GUO et al. 2009 Protobothrops sp. — SHARMA 2013 |
| Distribution | China (S Tibet), Nepal, Bhutan, India (Sikkim) Type locality: Jilong Valley, Jilong County, southern Tibet, China (85.35360° E, 28.37996° N; elevation 2708 m) |
| Reproduction | oviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: KIZ 012736 (Figure 1), an adult female, collected by Kai WANG and Hujun PAN on 14 June 2012, and deposited in KIZ. Paratypes: JL 20120614-001, an adult female from the same locality as the holotype, a road killed specimen, collected by Hujun PAN on 23 May 2012, and deposited in South China Institute of Endangered Animals, Guangzhou, China; ZSI 25990 (Figure 2), an adult male from Chungthang, northern Sikkim, India, collected by Basundhara CHETTRI on 16 August 2008, and deposited in ZSI, Kolkata, India. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: This new species is assigned to the genus Protobothrops on the basis of the following characters: 2 large solenoglyph teeth and a loreal pit; dorsal head covered with very small scales; body and tail elongated, thin and cylindrical; DSR 25 at midbody, keeled except the outermost; and distinct transverse bands found across body and tail (Hoge and Romano-Hoge, 1983). Protobothrops himalayanus sp. nov. differs from other species of Protobothrops by the following characters: 1) relatively large body size (TL up to 1510 mm ); 2) DSR 25–25–19; 3) with the exception of the smooth outermost row, dorsal scales are weakly keeled; 4) relatively high number of ventral (198–216) and subcaudal scales (65–76 pairs); 5) 7–8 supralabials; 6) 11 to 13 infralabials; 7) dorsal head uniform dark brown, laterally a reddish- brown obscure postocular streak, starting behind the eye; 8) dorsal body and tail olive, with distinct black edged red brown transverse bands across the body and tail; and 9) eye found from bright brown and reddish brown to mildly brown. |
| Comment | Synonymy: previously considered as P. jerdoni. Distribution: see map in Guo et a. 2016: 383 (Fig. 1). Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). |
| Etymology | The specific epithet is derived from the mountain range, the Himalayas. All of the current known distribution localities are on the southern slope of the Himalayas. The suggested English name is the Himalayan Pitviper, and the Chinese name is Xi Shan Yuan Mao Tou Fu. |
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