Protobothrops jerdonii

{{Speciesbox

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = Wogan G, Das I, Jiang J, Bain R (2012). "Protobothrops jerdonii ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T178419A1533609.en. Accessed on 25 June 2024.

|image=Protobothropsjerdonii.jpg

|image_caption= at the San Diego Zoo

|taxon=Protobothrops jerdonii

|authority=(Günther, 1875)

|range_map = Protobothrops jerdonii distribution.png

|synonyms= *Trimeresurus jerdonii
{{small|Günther, 1875}}

Lachesis jerdonii
{{small|— Boulenger, 1896}}
Lachesis melli
{{small|K. Vogt, 1922}}
Trimeresurus jerdonii melli
{{small|— Mell, 1931}}
T [rimeresurus]. j [erdonii ]. jerdonii
{{small|— Bourret, 1936}}
Trimeresurus jerdoni
{{small|— M.A. Smith, 1943}}
Trimeresurus jerdoni bourreti
{{small|Klemmer, 1963}}
P [rotobothrops]. jerdoni
{{small|— Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1983}}
Protobothrops jerdonii jerdonii
{{small|— Welch, 1988}}
Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti
{{small|— Welch, 1988}}
Protobothrops jerdonii meridionalis
{{small|— Welch, 1988}}
Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas
{{small|— Welch, 1988}}McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).
Trimeresurus jerdonii
{{small|— R.C. Sharma, 2004}}

| synonyms_ref = {{NRDB species|genus=Protobothrops|species=jerdonii|date=30 October|year=2018}}

}}

Protobothrops jerdonii, also known commonly as Jerdon's pit viper,Brown, John Haynes (1973). Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73–229. {{ISBN|0-398-02808-7}}. the yellow-speckled pit viper, and the oriental pit viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam. Three subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.{{ITIS|id=634917|taxon=Trimeresurus jerdonii |access-date=25 May 2007}}

File:Jerdon's Red Spotted Pit Viper (Protobothrops jerdonii).jpg

Etymology

The specific name, jerdonii, is in honor of British herpetologist Thomas C. Jerdon, who collected the type series.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Protobothrops jerdonii, p. 134; P. j. bourreti, p. 35).

The subspecific name, bourreti, is in honour of French herpetologist René Léon Bourret.

Description

File:TrimeresurusJerdoniFord.jpg (1875) for Günther's original description.]]

Males of P. jerdonii grow to a maximum total length of {{convert|835|mm|in|abbr=on}}, which includes a tail length of {{convert|140|mm|in|abbr=on}}; females grow to {{convert|990|mm|in|abbr=on}}, with a tail length of {{convert|160|mm|in|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal|vauthors=Leviton AE, Wogan GO, Koo MS, Zug GR, Lucas RS, Vindum JV|title=The dangerously venomous snakes of Myanmar. Illustrated checklist with keys|journal=Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences |year=2003|volume=54|issue=24|pages=407–462|url=http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/scipubs/pdfs/v54/proccas_v54_n24.pdf}}

Scalation: dorsal scales in 21 longitudinal rows at midbody (rarely 23); snout length a little more than twice diameter of eye; head above, except for large internasals and supraoculars, covered by small, unequal, smooth scales that are feebly imbricate or juxtaposed; first labial completely separated from nasal scales by a suture; internasals separated by 1–2 small scales; 6–9 small scales in line between supraoculars; 7–8 upper labials, third and fourth beneath eye, in contact with subocular or separated by at most a single series of small scales; ventrals: males 164–188, females 167–193; subcaudals: males 50–78, females 44–76.

Geographic range

P. jerdonii is found in northeastern India, Nepal, through northern Burma to southwestern China and Vietnam. The type locality given by Günther is "Khassya" (=Khasi Hills, India).

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of P. jerdonii are forest, shrubland, and grassland, at altitudes of {{cvt|1,400|–|2,300|m|ft}}.

Diet

Adults of P. jerdonii prey predominately upon rats, while juveniles prey upon frogs of the families Ranidae and Rhacophoridae.

Reproduction

The mode of reproduction of P. jerdonii has been referred to as viviparous and as ovoviviparous. Litter size is five to eight newborns.

Subspecies

cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse;"

!bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Subspecies

!bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Taxon author

!bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Common nameGumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S (2004). Asian Pitvipers. First Edition. Berlin: GeitjeBooks. 368 pp. {{ISBN|3-937975-00-4}}.

!bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Geographic range

P. j. bourreti

|(Klemmer, 1963)

|Bourret's pitviper

|style="width:40%"|Northwestern Vietnam (in the provinces of Lào Cai and Lai Châu, and possibly also in adjacent China (Yunnan).

P. j. jerdonii

|(Günther, 1875)

|Jerdon's pitviper

|Southwestern China (in the provinces of southern Xizang (Tibet), western Sichuan and Yunnan), northeastern India, Bangladesh, Burma (Chin and Kachin state), and northeastern Nepal.

P. j. xanthomelas

|(Günther, 1889)

|red spotted pitviper

|Central and southern China (in the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei and Guangxi) and northeastern India(Arunachal Pradesh).Zambre, Amod; Sheth, Chintan; Dalvi, Shashank; Kulkarni, Nirmal (2009). "First record of Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas (Günther, 1889) from Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, India". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 106 (2): 325-327.

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Protobothrops.