Porthidium nasutum

Porthidium nasutum
Specimen at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Genus:	Porthidium
Species:	P. nasutum
Binomial name
Porthidium nasutum (Bocourt, 1868)
Synonyms
Bothrops nasutus Bocourt, 1868 Porthidium nasutum – Cope, 1871 Bothriopsis proboscideus Cope, 1875 Th[anatos]. sutus Posada Arango, 1889 Th[anatophis]. sutus – Posada Arango, 1889 Lachesis brachystoma Boulenger, 1896 Bothrops nasuta – Amaral, 1929 Trimeresurus nasutus – Dunn & Bailey, 1939 Bothrops nasutus – J.A. Peters & Orejas-Miranda, 1970 Bothriechis nasutus – Savage, 1980 Porthidium nasutum – H.M. Smith & R.P. Smith, 1976

Common names: hognosed pit viper, hognosed pit viper, rainforest hognosed pit viper, horned hog-nosed viper.

Porthidium nasutum is a pit viper species found in southern Mexico, Central America and northern South America. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Description

P. nasutum at Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica

P. nasutum at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica

Adults are usually less than 40 centimetres (16 in) in total length, and rarely more than 60 centimetres (24 in). Females are considerably larger than males. Moderately stout and terrestrial.

Geographic range

Found in southern Mexico southward through Central America to western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador in South America. Inhabits the Atlantic lowlands from Mexico (Tabasco and Chiapas) through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to eastern Panama and northwestern Colombia. In the Pacific lowlands, it occurs in southwestern Costa Rica, central and eastern Panama, continuing on to northwestern Ecuador. It is found in mesic lowland broadleaf or rainforest from sea level to elevation of about 900 metres (3,000 ft). The type locality given is "Pansos [Panzós], sur les bords du Polochic [Alta Verapaz] (Guatémala)."

Conservation status

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is a widespread and moderately common species that is not facing major threats.

Further reading

• Bocourt, M.F. 1868. Descriptions de quelques Crotaliens nouveaux appartenant au genre Bothrops, recueillis dans le Guatémala. Annales des sciences naturelles, Series 5, 10: 201–202. ("Bothrops nasutus n. sp.", p. 202.)

External links

• Porthidium nasutum Archived 2011-07-12 at the Wayback Machine at Honduras Silvestre Archived 2010-03-15 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 12 February 2008.