Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Vertebrata Suborder Serpentes Scientific name Ovophis chaseni Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Order Squamata Family Viperidae Higher classification Ovophis | |
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Similar Ovophis, Ophryacus, Mixcoatlus, Cerrophidion, Bothrocophias | ||
Ovophis chaseni is a venomous pitviper species found on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. No subspecies are currently recognized.
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Etymology
The specific name, chaseni, is in honor of Frederick Nutter Chasen, who in 1931 was Curator of the Raffles Museum, Singapore.
Description
Ovophis chaseni is heavy-bodied, and may attain 65 cm (25 1⁄2 in) SVL (snout-vent length). Dorsally it has a dark tan or reddish brown ground color, overlaid by dark brown crossbands, which are broken and alternating on the front part of the body, becoming regular on the posterior part. Ventrally it is yellow and gray. It has two rows of small scales between the upper labials and the eye.
Scalation includes: 19, 17, or 15 rows of dorsal scales at midbody; 130-143 ventral scales; 20-30 paired subcaudal scales; and 6 supralabial scales with the third being the highest.
Geographic range
Found on the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in northern Sabah in the region of Mount Kinabalu. The type locality given is "Kiau" (at the foot of Mt. Kinabalu, northern Borneo, ca. 915 m [3,000 feet]).
Habitat
It is found in submontane forests, living on the forest floor.