Porthidium lansbergii

Porthidium lansbergii is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is native to eastern Central America and northwestern South America. Four subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.^[4]

Porthidium lansbergii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Genus:	Porthidium
Species:	P. lansbergii
Binomial name
Porthidium lansbergii (Schlegel, 1841)
Synonyms[2]
Trigonocephalus lansbergii Schlegel, 1841 T [eleuraspis]. Castelnaui Var. brachystoma Cope, 1860 T [eleuraspis]. Lansbergi — Cope, 1860 Bothriechis brachystoma — Cope, 1860 Bothrops lansbergii — Günther, 1863 B[othrops]. Boussingaultii Jan, 1863 B[othrops]. Lansbergi — Jan, 1863 Porthidium lansbergii — Cope, 1871 Bothriopsis brachystoma — Cope, 1871 B[othriopsis]. castelnavi var. brachystoma — Cope, 1871 Bothrops brachystoma — F. Müller, 1880 Bothriopsis br [achystoma]. — F. Müller, 1880 Brothriopsis brachystoma — Cope, 1887 Teleuraspis castelnaudi var. brachystoma — Cope, 1887 Th[anatos]. Lansbergii — Posada Arango, 1889 Th[anatophis]. Lansbergi — Posada Arango, 1889 Th[anatos]. Boussingaultii — Posada Arango, 1889 Th[anatophis]. Boussingaultii — Posada Arango, 1889 Bothriechis lansbergii — Günther, 1895 Lachesis lansbergii — Boulenger, 1896 Lachesis brachystoma — Boulenger, 1896 Trimeresurus brachystoma — Mocquard, 1989 Bothriechis lansbergii — Recinos, 1913 Lachesis lansbergi — Griffin, 1916 Bothrops lansbergii venezuelensis Roze, 1959 B[othrops]. l [ansbergii]. lansbergii — Roze, 1959 Porthidium lansbergii — Campbell & Lamar, 1989 Porthidium lansbergii lansbergii — Campbell & Lamar, 1989

Common names: Lansberg's hognosed pit viper.^[3]

Etymology

The specific name, lansbergii, is in honor of "M[onsieur]. de Lansberge" (Reinhart Frans von Lansberge), Dutch consul at Caracas, Venezuela, in 1841.^[5]

Description

Adults of P. lansbergii average 30–50 cm (11+3⁄4–19+5⁄8 in) in total length (including tail), with a maximum of 90 cm (35+1⁄2 in). A terrestrial snake, it is moderately slender.^[3]

Common names

Common names for P. lansbergii include Lansberge's hog-nosed pit-viper. It is also called patoca in Colombia and Panama.^[3]

Geographic range

P. lansbergii is found in extreme eastern Central America in the xeric coastal lowlands of central and eastern Panama, in northern South America in the Atlantic lowlands of Colombia and northern Venezuela, as well as in the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador. The type locality given is "les environs de Turbaco [Department de Bolívar], en Colombie ". According to Amaral (1929), the holotype is likely from Tumaco.^[2]

According to the range map provided by Campbell & Lamar (2004), the subspecies P. l. rozei and P. l. lansbergii intergrade in the northern part of the Guajira Peninsula.^[3]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of P. lansbergii is forest, from sea level to 1,270 m (4,170 ft).^[1]

Subspecies

Subspecies[4]	Taxon author[4]	Common name	Geographic range[2][3]
P. l. arcosae	(Schätti & Kramer, 1993)	Manabí hognosed pitviper[3]	Western Ecuador in the Pacific lowlands of Manabí Province.
P. l. hutmanni	(Sandner-Montilla, 1989)		Endemic to Isla Margarita, Venezuela.
P. l. lansbergii	(Schlegel, 1841)		Northern Colombia and Panama.
P. l. rozei	(J. Peters, 1968)	Lansberg's gold hognosed pitviper	Venezuela from the Lake Maracaibo region and along the coast as far east as Caripito Monagas. Also enters northeastern Colombia to the southwest of Lake Maracaibo.

Nota bene: A trinomial authority (taxon author) in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Porthidium.

Taxonomy

Campbell & Lamar (2004) consider P. l. arcosae a full species.^[3]

Reproduction

P. lansbergii is viviparous.^[6]