Ophryacus

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Ophryacus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Subphylum:
Class:
Order:
Suborder:
Family:
Subfamily:
Genus:
Ophryacus

Cope, 1887[1]

Lua error in Module:Taxonbar/candidate at line 22: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

Common names: Mexican horned pitvipers.[2]

Ophryacus is a genus of venomous pit vipers endemic to Mexico. The name is derived from the Greek word ophrys, which means "brow", and the Latin word acus, which means "needle", an allusion to the characteristic horn-like scales over the eyes.[2] Currently, two species are recognized and no subspecies.[3]

Description

The larger of the two species, O. undulatus, grows to between 55 and 70 cm (22 and 28 in) in length. They are characterized by the presence of a single scale over the eye that takes the shape of either a long and relatively slender spine, or a flattened horn. Often, other supraocular scales are also shaped in such a way that they project slightly.[2]

Geographic range

They are restricted to the mountains of central and southern Mexico.[1]

Species

Species[3] Taxon author[3] Common name[2] Geographic range[1]
O. melanurus (L. Müller, 1924) Black-tailed horned pit viper The mountains of southern Mexico (southern Puebla and Oaxaca) at elevations of 1600–2400 m (5,250-7,875 feet).
O. undulatusT (Jan, 1859) Mexican horned pit viper The mountains of central and southern Mexico (Hidalgo, Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Guerrero) west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec at elevations of 1800–2800 m (5,900–9200 feet).

T) Type species.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further reading

  • Cope, E.D. 1887. Catalogue of Batrachians and Reptiles [Batrachia and Reptilia] of Central America and Mexico.
    Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. 32: 1-98. ("Ophryacus Cope, gen. nov.", p. 88.)

External links