Kingdom Animalia Suborder Serpentes Subfamily Crotalinae Scientific name Trimeresurus puniceus Higher classification Trimeresurus Order Scaled reptiles | Subphylum Vertebrata Family Viperidae Genus Trimeresurus Phylum Chordata Rank Species | |
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Similar Trimeresurus, Snake, Vipers, Reptile, Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus | ||
Trimeresurus puniceus
Trimeresurus puniceus is a venomous pitviper species endemic to Southeast Asia. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Contents
Trimeresurus puniceus
Description
Adults may attain a total length of 64 cm (25 in), which includes a prehensile tail 9 cm (3.5 in) long.
Dorsally, T. puniceus is gray, brown, or red, with dark blotches or crossbars, which may merge to form an undulating stripe. On each side of the head, behind the eye, is a light streak. Ventrally, it is powdered with dark brown, and usually has lateral series of yellowish spots.
Scalation includes 21-23 rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 158-173 ventral scales, 41-56 subcaudal scales, and 10-13 supralabial scales. The dorsal scales are weekly keeled, and the anal plate is entire.
Common names
Flat-nosed pitviper, flat-nosed pit viper, ashy pit viper.
Two more common names, Wirot's pit viper and Siamese palm viper, which were applied to T. wiroti, are now part of the synonymy of T. puniceus.
Geographic range
Found in southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), and Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut and North Pagai, Simalur, and Java). The type locality given is "Java".
