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Trimeresurus erythrurus (CANTOR, 1839)

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Higher TaxaViperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Redtail (bamboo) Pit Viper 
SynonymTrigonocephalus erythrurus CANTOR 1839: 31
Trimeresurus bicolor GRAY 1853 (fide SMITH 1943)
Trimeresurus erythrurus — GÜNTHER 1864: 386
Trimeresurus carinatus FAYRER 1874 (fide SMITH 1943)
Trimeresurus erythrurus — POPE & POPE 1933
Trimeresurus erythrurus — SMITH 1943: 522
Trimeresurus erythrurus — WELCH 1994: 115
Trimeresurus erythrurus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 331
Trimeresurus erythrurus — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004
Cryptelytrops erythrurus — MALHOTRA & THORPE 2004
Trimerusurus erythrurus — LALTANPUIA et al. 2008 (in error)
Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) erythrurus — DAVID et al. 2011
Trimeresurus erythrurus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 741
Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) erythrurus — MIRZA et al. 2023 
DistributionIndia (Assam, Sikkim, Mizoram, West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur), Bangladesh, Myanmar (= Burma), Nepal, Thailand ? (fide TAYLOR 1965), Bhutan

Type locality: Ganges Delta  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.19.99 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS (DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS). Scales in 23–25 longitudinal rows at midbody; first upper labial partially or completely fused to nasal; 9–13 upper labials, 1–2 rows of scales separate upper labials from subocular; 11–14 scales in a line between supraoculars; supraoculars rarely divided; temporal scales small, strongly keeled; ventrals: males 153–174, females: 151–180; subcaudals: males 62–79, females 49–61, usually paired, occasionally unpaired shields present among paired series; head uniform green, dorsum bright green, light ventrolateral stripe present in males, present or absent in females (Maslin [1942:23] says that the ventrolateral stripe is absent, but Smith [1943:524] states that it is present in males and variable in females), tail spotted with brown; hemipenes without spines. Total length males 575 mm, females 1045; tail length males 120 mm, females 165 mm. [after LEVITON 2003] 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: STEJNEGER (1907) synonymizes Trigonocephalus erythrurus CANTOR 1839 with Trimeresurus gramineus.

Distribution: Possibly in Bhutan (Lenz 2012). Some authors report this species from Thailand (like Pauwels et al. 2000), others exclude it from the Thai herpetofauna (e.g. Gumprecht 2001). See map in Vogel et al. 2023: 529 (Fig. 5) for localities.

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Phylogenetics: T. erythrurus and T. purpureomaculatus are paraphyletic in the tree of Chen et al. 2020. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek erythros = red, reddish, presumably for the sometimes reddish looking skin between dorsal scales in some specimens. 
References
  • Ao J. M., David P., Bordoloi S., Ohler A. 2004. Notes on a collection of snakes from Nagaland, Northeast India, with 19 new records for this state. Russian Journal of Herpetology 11 (2): 155 – 162
  • Cantor, T. E. 1839. Spicilegium serpentium indicorum [part 1]. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1839: 31-34 - get paper here
  • Cantor,T. 1840. Spicilegium Serpentium Indicorum. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1) 4: 271-279 - get paper here
  • Chan KO, Anuar S, Sankar A, Law IT, Law IS, Shivaram R, Christian C, Mulcahy DG, Malhotra A 2023. A new species of pit-viper from the Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions in Myanmar (Viperidae, Trimeresurus). ZooKeys 1186: 221-234 - get paper here
  • Chan, K. O., Sind, L. I., Thong, L. I., Ananthanarayanan, S., Rasu, S., Aowphol, A., Rujirawan, A., Anuar, S., Mulcahy, D., Grismer, J. L., & Grismer, L. L. 2022. Phylogeography of mangrove pit vipers (Viperidae, Trimeresurus erythrurus-purpureomaculatus complex). Zoologica Scripta, 00, 1– 12 - get paper here
  • CHEN, ZENING; JIANPING YU, GERNOT VOGEL, SHENGCHAO SHI, ZHAOBIN SONG, YEZHONG TANG, JIA YANG, LI DING, CANGSONG CHEN 2020. A new pit viper of the genus Trimeresurus (Lacépède, 1804) (Squamata: Viperidae) from Southwest China. Zootaxa 4768 (1): 112–128 - get paper here
  • Das, Abhijit; Uttam Saikia, B. H. C. K. Murthy, Santanu Dey and Sushil K. Dutta 2009. A herpetofaunal inventory of Barail Wildlife Sanctuary and adjacent regions, Assam, north-eastern India. Hamadryad 34 (1): 117 – 134 - get paper here
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  • 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
  • Deuti, K., Aengals, R., Raha, S., Debnath, S., Sathiyaselvam, P., & Ganesh, S. R. 2021. On further specimens of the Pitviper Trimeresurus erythrurus (Cantor, 1839)(Squamata: Viperidae), with description of a topotype and range extension to the Godavari Basin, peninsular India. Journal of Animal Diversity 3 (1): 110-119 - get paper here
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  • Grismer, L. Lee; Tri, Ngo Van; Grismer, Jesse L. 2008. A new species of insular pitviper of the genus Cryptelytrops (Squamata: Viperidae) from southern Vietnam. Zootaxa 1715: 57-68 - get paper here
  • Gumprecht, A.; Tillack, F.; Orlov, N.L.; Captain, A. & Ryabow, S. 2004. Asian pitvipers. Geitje Books, Berlin, 368 pp.
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  • Lalremsanga, H. T., Lalbiakzuala, Lalrinsanga, Vanlalchhuana, M., Vanlallawma, A. and Laltlanchhuaha, H. 2020. Trimeresurus erythrurus (red-tailed pit viper). Reproduction. Herpetological Review 51: 158-159. - get paper here
  • Lalremsanga, H.T.; Saipari Sailo and Chinliansiama 2011. Diversity of Snakes (Reptilia: Squamata) and Role of Environmental Factors in Their Distribution in Mizoram, Northeast India. Advances in Environmental Chemistry - get paper here
  • Lawmsanga, Lal; Vanlal Hrima, Lal Biakzuala, Hmar Tlawmte Lalremsanga 2020. First Record of Dicephalism in a Red-tailed Bamboo Pitviper, Trimeresurus erythrurus (Cantor 1839). IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (2): 262-263 - get paper here
  • Lenz, Norbert 2012. Von Schmetterlingen und Donnerdrachen - Natur und Kultur in Bhutan. Karlsruher Naturhefte 4, Naturkundemuseum Karlsruhe, 124 pp.
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