Tropidolaemus huttoni (SMITH, 1949)
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Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Hutton’s pitviper |
Synonym | Trimeresurus huttoni SMITH 1949: 596 Trimeresurus huttoni — WELCH 1994: 115 Tropidolaemus huttoni — DAVID & VOGEL 1998 Tropidolaemus huttoni — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 349 Tropidolaemus huttoni — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004 Tropidolaemus huttoni — HUTTON & DAVID 2009 Tropidolaemus huttoni — GANESH et al. 2014 Tropidolaemus huttoni — WALLACH et al. 2014: 748 |
Distribution | S India (Varushanad Hills, District of Madurai, State of Tamil Nadu) Type locality: “The high Wavy Mountains, or Meghamalai hills, Theni District, Tamil Nadu; elevation 5200 feet” |
Reproduction | ovovivparous |
Types | Holotype: BMNH 1948.1.8.75, male, juvenile; Paratype: BNHS 2658 (in Mumbai, India) female, juvenile (Smith 1949 says that “the paratype has been retained by Mr. Hutton for his own collection”). |
Diagnosis | Additional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1617 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
Comment | Venomous! This species is known only from the two juvenile specimens both collected together by A.F. Hutton in 1949, based on which it was described. Exhaustive field surveys conducted at the type locality did not yield another specimen (Ganesh et al. 2014). The type specimens are very close to juveniles of the Indomalayan taxon Tropidolaemus wagleri. They differ from T. wagleri of the same size and respective sex by (1) a higher Tal/TL ratio, 0.016 to 0.279 (vs. 0.139 – 0.196 in T. wagleri), (2) midbody scalerows 21-23 (vs. 21-27 in T. wagleri), (3) cephalic scales in a row between supraoculars 9 (vs. 12-17 in T. wagleri), (4) supranasals separated by one or two scales (vs. supranasals in contact with each other in T. wagleri) (after, Hutton & David, 2009; Ganesh et al. 2014). A possible third specimen LSUMZ 45547 (see Boundy 2007) labeled as from Lonvala in Northern Western Ghats, though resembles T. huttoni in slightly lower no. of cephalic scales and possibly the shape of the snout, is actually more closer to T. wagleri in having internaslas in contact with each other and the longer relative tail length (Ganesh et al. 2014). |
Etymology | Named after Mr. Angus F. Hutton who collected the types. |
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