Porthidium lansbergii


Porthidium lansbergii is a species of venomous snake, a pitviper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Central and South America. Four subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

Etymology

The specific name, lansbergii, is in honor of "M. de Lansberge", Dutch consul at Caracas, Venezuela, in 1841.

Description

Adults of P. lansbergii average in total length, with a maximum of. A terrestrial snake, it is moderately slender.

Common names

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

Geographic range

Porthidium 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 , en Colombie ". According to :fr:Afrânio Pompílio Gastos do Amaral|Amaral, the holotype is likely from Tumaco.
According to the range map provided by Campbell & Lamar, the subspecies P. l. rozei and P. l. lansbergii intergrade in the northern part of the Guajira Peninsula.

Subspecies

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

Taxonomy

Campbell & Lamar consider P. l. arcosae a full species.

Reproduction

Porthidium lansbergii is viviparous.