You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Trimeresurus sumatranus

Trimeresurus sumatranus (RAFFLES, 1822)

IUCN Red List - Trimeresurus sumatranus - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Trimeresurus sumatranus?

Add your own observation of
Trimeresurus sumatranus »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sumatra Pit Viper
G: Sumatra-Bambusotter 
SynonymColuber sumatranus RAFFLES 1822
Cophias wagleri SCHLEGEL 1826 (not BOIE 1827)
Coluber sumatrensis — BOIE 1826: 239
Trimesurus sumatranus — GRAY 1842: 48
Trigonocephalus formosus MÜLLER & SCHLEGEL 1842
Trigonocephalus formosus — MÜLLER & SCHLEGEL in TEMMINCK 1845: 52
Trigonocephalus sumatranus — CANTOR 1847: 1042
Trimeresurus formosus — GRAY 1849: 10
Bothrops formosus — BLEEKER 1858: 263
Trimeresurus formosus — BOULENGER 1885: 388
Bothrops sumatranus — LIDTH DE JEUDE 1886: 52
Trimeresurus (Trigonocephalus) formosus — MÜLLER 1887: 280
Lachesis sumatranus — BOULENGER 1896: 557 (part.)
Trimeresurus sumatranus — BARBOUR 1912: 201 (part.)
Lachesis sumatranus — DE ROOIJ 1917: 282
Trimeresurus sumatranus sumatranus — LOVERIDGE 1938: 45
Trimeresurus sumatranus — TAYLOR 1965: 1070
Trimeresurus sumatranus sumatranus — WELCH 1994: 117
Trimeresurus sumatranus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 345
Trimeresurus sumatranus — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004
Parias sumatranus — MALHOTRA & THORPE 2004
Trimeresurus (Parias) sumatranus — DAVID et al. 2011
Parias sumatranus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 538
Parias sumatranus — CHAN-ARD et al. 2015: 289
Parias sumatranus — GUO et al. 2018
Trimeresurus (Parias) sumatranus — MIRZA et al. 2023 
DistributionIndonesia (Borneo, Simalur = Simeulue, Nias, Mentawi, Sumatra, Bangka, Billiton = Belitung), W Malaysia, S Thailand

Type locality: Sumatra (Indonesia).  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesNeotype. ZFMK 76340, adult female, designated by VOGEL et al. 2014.
Holotype: unlocated (fide MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999)
Holotype: RMNH 1583, adult male [Trigonocephalus formosus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Large species reaching more than a meter in length; scales between supraoculars smooth; gular scales smooth; snout not raised above nostrils; supraoculars large separated by from four to nine scales; scalerows at mid-body, 21; tail, prehensile. (Taylor 1965: 1070)


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 1012 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: after VOGEL et al. 2014.

Subspecies: Trimeresurus sumatranus malcolmi has been elevated to species status.

Distribution: Does occur in Thailand despite contradictory reports (GUMPRECHT & BULIAN 2003). Not in Singapore or not established there (Figueroa et al. 2023), although it was reported from there by David & Vogel 1996.

Similar species: Has often been confused with T. hageni (e.g in LIM 1982) or T. kanburiensis (KUNDERT 1984, Fig. 106).

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
  • Adler, K. 1997. Illustrations of reptiles. Fauna 1 (1): 64-71
  • Barbour, Thomas 1912. A Contribution to the Zoögeography of the East Indian Islands. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy 44 (1): 1-203 - get paper here
  • Bleeker, P. 1858. Opsomming der tot dusverre van het eiland Sumatra bekend gewordene Reptilien. Natuurk. Tijdschr. Ned. Indië (4) 15: 260-263 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger,G.A. 1885. A list of reptiles and batrachians from the Island of Nias. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5) 16: 388-389 - get paper here
  • Cantor. T. E. 1847. Catalogue of reptiles inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. J Asiat. Soc., Bengal, Calcutta. 16 (2): 607 - 656, 897-952, 1026 - 1078 - get paper here
  • Chan-ard, T., Parr, J.W.K. & Nabhitabhata, J. 2015. A field guide to the reptiles of Thailand. Oxford University Press, NY, 352 pp. [see book reviews by Pauwels & Grismer 2015 and Hikida 2015 for corrections] - get paper here
  • Das, I. 2012. A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of South-East Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford J, ohn Beaufoy Publishing - get paper here
  • Das, Indraneil, Pui Yong Min, Jongkar Grinang and Andrew Alek Tuen. 2014. Parias sumatranus (Sumatran pit viper) diet. Herpetological Review 45 (2): 340-341 - get paper here
  • DAVID, PATRICK; GERNOT VOGEL & ALAIN DUBOIS 2011. On the need to follow rigorously the Rules of the Code for the subsequent designation of a nucleospecies (type species) for a nominal genus which lacked one: the case of the nominal genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae). Zootaxa 2992: 1–51 - get paper here
  • David,P. & Vogel, G. 1996. The snakes of Sumatra. An annotated checklist and key with natural history notes. Bücher Kreth, Frankfurt/M.
  • de Rooij, N. DE 1917. The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Il. Ophidia. Leiden (E. J. Brill), xiv + 334 S. - get paper here
  • Dring J C M 1979. Amphibians and reptiles from northern Trengganu, Malaysia, with descriptions of two new geckos: Cnemaspis and Cyrtodactylus. Bulletin of the British Museum (NATURAL HISTORY) ZOOLOGY 34 (5): 181-241 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of Rattle snakes, or Family of Crotalidae. Zoological Miscellany 2: 47- 51. - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1849. Catalogue of the specimens of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Edward Newman, London, i-xv; 1-125. - get paper here
  • Gumprecht, A. & Bulian, J. 2003. Die Bambusottern der Gattung Trimeresurus LACEPÈDE Teil VIII: Nachträge und Anmerkungen zur Checkliste der Trimeresurus-Arten Thailands. Sauria 25 (4): 15-17 - get paper here
  • Gumprecht, A.; Ryabov, S.; Orlov, N.; Shiryaev, K.; Panteleev, D. & Tepedelen, K. 2003. Die Grubenottern der Gattung Trimeresurus LACÉPÈDE Teil VII: Anmerkungen zur biologie, Haltung und Nachzucht von Trimeresurus sumatranus (RAFFLES 1822). Sauria 25 (1): 37-44 - get paper here
  • Gumprecht, A.; Tillack, F.; Orlov, N.L.; Captain, A. & Ryabow, S. 2004. Asian pitvipers. Geitje Books, Berlin, 368 pp.
  • Gumprecht,A. 2001. Die Bambusottern der Gattung Trimeresurus Lacépède Teil IV: Checkliste der Trimeresurus-Arten Thailands. Sauria 23 (2): 25-32 - get paper here
  • Guo, P.; Jadin, R.C.; Malhotra, A. & Li, C. 2009. An investigation of the cranial evolution of Asian pitvipers (Serpentes: Crotalinae), with comments on the phylogenetic position of Peltopelor macrolepis. Acta Zoologica 91: 402-407 - get paper here
  • Guo, Peng; Qin Liu, Guanghui Zhong, Fei Zhu, Fang Yan, Ting Tang, Rong Xiao, Min Fang, Ping Wang and Xin Fu 2015. Cryptic diversity of green pitvipers in Yunnan, South-west China (Squamata, Viperidae). Amphibia-Reptilia 36 (3): 265 - 276 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Husson, S.J.; S.H. Limin, Adul, N.S. Boyd, J.J. Brousseau, S. Collier, S.M. Cheyne, L.J. D’Arcy, R.A. Dow, N.W. Dowds, M.L. Dragiewicz, D.A. Ehlers Smith, Iwan, Hendri, P.R. Houlihan, K.A. Jeffers, B.J.M. Jarrett, I.P. Kulu, H.C. Morrogh-Bernard, S.E 2018. Biodiversity of the Sebangau tropical peat swamp forest, Indonesian Borneo. Mires and Peat 22 (05): 1–50 - get paper here
  • Janzen, Peter 2022. Herpetofauna in Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo) – Part 2 Reptiles. Sauria 44 (3): 3-28
  • Kundert, F. 1984. Das neue Schlangenbuch in Farbe. Zürich (Rüschlikon), 196 pp.
  • Lidth de Jeude,T. W. van 1886. Note X. On Cophias wagleri BOIE and Coluber sumatranus RAFFLES. Notes from the Leyden Museum 8: 43-54 - get paper here
  • Lim, Boo Liat 1982. Poisonous snakes of peninsular Malaysia, 2.ed. Malayan Nature Soc., Kuala Lumpur 73 pp.
  • Loveridge, A. 1938. New snakes of the genera Calamaria, Bungarus and Trimeresurus from Mt. Kinabalu, North Borneo. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 51: 43-46. - get paper here
  • Malhotra, Anita & Thorpe, Roger S. 2004. A phylogeny of four mitochondrial gene regions suggests a revised taxonomy for Asian pitvipers (Trimeresurus and Ovophis). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32: 83 –100 [erratum p. 680] - get paper here
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Müller,F. 1887. Fünfter Nachtrag zum Katalog der herpetologischen Sammlung des Basler Museums. Verh. Naturf. Ges. Basel 8: 249-296 - get paper here
  • Murphy, J. C.; Voris, H. K.; Karns, D. R. 1994. A field guide and key to the snakes of the Danum Valley, A bornean tropical rainforest ecosystem. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 29: 133-151
  • Raffles, T.S. 1822. Second part of the descriptive catalogue of a zoological collection made in the island of Sumatra and its vicinity. Trans. Linn. Soc., London, 8 (2): 277-335. - get paper here
  • Ryabov, Sergei A., Nicolai L. Orlov, Dmitry J. Panteleev and Konstantin A. Shiryaev. 2003. Trimeresurus hageni, Trimeresurus puniceus, and Trimeresurus sumatranus (Ophidia: Viperidae: Crotalinae): The data on reproductive biology and methods of captive breeding in laboratory conditions. Russ. J. Herpetol. 9 (3): 243-254 [2002] - get paper here
  • Schlegel, H. 1826. Notice sur l’Erpétologie de l’île de Java; Par M. Boïé. Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles et de Géologie, 9: 233-240. - get paper here
  • Smith, M. A. 1928. Two Vipers New to Siam. J. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam 7: 194 - get paper here
  • Stuebing, R.B., Inger, R.F. & Lardner, B. 2014. A field guide to the snakes of Borneo, second edition. Natural history Publications (Borneo)
  • Syafiq MF, Badli-Sham BH, Grismer LL, Ahmad AB 2023. Uneven species occurrence and richness of lowland snakes (Serpentes, Squamata) in Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia, with new locality records. ZooKeys 1168: 11–39 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1965. The serpents of Thailand and adjacent waters. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 45 (9): 609-1096 - get paper here
  • Temminck,V. 1847. Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche bezittingen, door de leden der Natuurkundige Commisie in Oost-Indie en andere schrijvers. Leijden folio. Afd. 1 Zoologie in 12 afleveringen, met 45 gekl. pl. - Vitg. door C.J. Temminck, Leiden, Leuchtmans u. Hoeck (in comm.) [1839-1847] - get paper here
  • TEYNIÉ, ALEXANDRE; PATRICK DAVID, & ANNEMARIE OHLER 2010. Note on a collection of Amphibians and Reptiles from Western Sumatra (Indonesia), with the description of a new species of the genus Bufo. Zootaxa 2416: 1–43 - get paper here
  • Vogel G, David P, Sidik I. 2014. On Trimeresurus sumatranus (Raffles, 1822), with the designation of a neotype and the description of a new species of pitviper from Sumatra (Squamata: Viperidae: Crotalinae). Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 8 (2) [General Issue]: 1–29 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Trimeresurus&species=sumatranus

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator