Animal: Protobothrops spp., -
Formerly genus Trimeresurus
Species
- Protobothrops cornutus
- Protobothrops dabieshanensis
- Protobothrops elegans
- Protobothrops flavirostris
- Protobothrops flavoviridis
- Protobothrops himalayanus
- Protobothrops jerdonii
- Protobothrops kaulbacki
- Protobothrops kelomohy
- Protobothrops mangshanensis
- Protobothrops maolanensis
- Protobothrops mucrosquamatus
- Protobothrops sieversorum
- Protobothrops tokarensis
- Protobothrops trungkhanhensis
- Protobothrops xiangchengensis
The genus Protobothrops was previously included in the genus Trimeresurus (Gumprecht et al. 2004, Malhotra and Thorpe 2004).
See also Trimeresurus spp. for detailed disscussion about the revision of the genus Trimeresurus.
Protobothrops mangshanensis (Snetkov and Orlov 2017) also described as Zhaoermia mangshangensis (Gumprecht & Tillack 2004)
Protobothrops sieversorum is also described as Triceratolepidophis sieversorum (Ziegler et al. 2000)
Taxonomy
Common names
- Fan-Si-Pan horned pitviper
- Dabie Mountains pitviper
- Elegant pitviper
- Vang Vieng lance-headed pit viper
- Habu
- Jerdon's pitviper
- Kaulback's lance-headed pitviper
- Omkoi Lance-headed Pit Viper
- Mangshan pitviper, Mt. Mang pitviper, Mang Mountain pitviper
- Mao-lan pitviper
- Brown spotted pitviper
- Three horned-scaled pitviper
- Takara Habu
- Kham Plateau pitviper
Distribution
See link "Distribution" at the top of the page for detailed information.
Northern Indian Subcontinent eastwards to China, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.
Protobothrops spp.
Biology
Generally smaller snakes under 1 m. Protobothrops flavoviridis, however, can reach 2 m. Triangular head clearly distinct from the body. Commonly camouflage colouring in brown, reddish-ochre or yellow shades. Often repetitive pattern. Protobothrops flavoviridis also in shades of green, and the repetitive pattern breaks up into lines along the back.
Ground-dwelling and arboreal. Protobothrops flavoviridis and Protobothrops mucrosquamatus found in wooded or open regions, but also often in agricultural areas and in living quarters among the rural population.
Risk
Bites from most species generally only cause local effects. However, the following species also cause more serious accidents: Protobothrops flavoviridis (few but regular fatalities) and Protobothrops mucrosquamatus (known fatalities in Taiwan).
There are several hundred bites each year due to P. flavoviridis on the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Of these, approx. 50% occur in people working in the fields and approx. 20% in living quarters. Around 25% of cases have a severe course, with local necrosis or systemic envenoming, and on average 8 patients die each year (Sawai et al. 1970, 1971b).
In Taiwan, P. mucrosquamatus is held responsible for half of all venomous snakebites (Sawai 1969).
Literature (biological)
Grassby-Lewis et al. 2025, Gumprecht et al. 2004, Guo et al 2007, Malhotra and Thorpe 2004, Pan et al. 2013, Snetkov and Orlov 2017, Sumontha 2020