''Bothriechis thalassinus'', also known as Merendon palm-pitviper or Merendon palm pit viper, is a

pit viper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . or pit adders, are a subfamily (biology), subfamily of Viperidae, vipers found in Asia and the ...

species native to

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Description

This is a medium-sized pitviper with a slender body and strong

prehensile tail A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has Adaptation (biology), adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully Prehensility, prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and ...

. Adults are usually long, with a maximum recorded length of . It has 21–23 dorsal scale rows at mid-body. The head and body usually have a greenish dorsal color, shading to yellow-greenish along the sides. The belly is generally lighter in color: cream, yellow-green or pale green. The dorsal pattern may have irregular blotches, turquoise to black, or speckling that doesn't reach very far down the sides. The head has two black stripes and black speckling on top, which are less visible towards the tail. Like all other pitvipers, ''B. thalassinus'' has heat sensitive organs, or

loreal pit The loreal pit is the deep depression, or fossa, in the Lore (anatomy), loreal area on either side of the head in pit vipers (crotaline snakes). The area is located behind the nostril and in front of the eye, but below the line that runs between ...

s, located on either side of the head between the eye and the nostril.

Geographic range

Its range extends from eastern

to western

. In eastern Guatemala it is found in several mountain ranges, including Sierra de Caral in Izabal and the

Sierra del Merendón Sierra del Merendón is a mountain range extending on the eastern border of Guatemala and Honduras. Its south-western border is marked by the Lempa River valley, its northern border by the Motagua River valley. The mountain range has several dif ...

Zacapa Zacapa () is the departmental capital municipality of Zacapa Department, one of the 22 Departments of Guatemala. It is located approximately from Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capit ...

Habitat

It occurs in lower

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

wet forest and lower montane moist forest at elevations of .

Behavior

Like other ''Bothriechis'' members, this species appears to be mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

. It preys mostly on frogs, lizards, and sometimes small mammals or birds. ''B. thalassinus'' is not known to be an aggressive species, but may strike quickly when surprised or disturbed.

Reproduction

Like most other pitvipers, ''B. thalassinus'' is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...

. Average litter size is probably less than 10–12 young per litter.

Venom

The characteristics of its venom are not yet well known. It is mainly

hemotoxic Haemotoxins, hemotoxins or hematotoxins are toxins that destroy red blood cells, disrupt blood clotting, and/or cause organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage. The term ''haemotoxin'' is to some degree a misnomer since toxins that damage ...

, and possibly contains mild

neurotoxic Neurotoxicity is a form of toxicity in which a biological, chemical, or physical agent produces an adverse effect on the structure or function of the central and/or peripheral nervous system. It occurs when exposure to a substance – specifical ...

or myotoxic factors. Seldom encountered by humans, there are very few reported bites of humans. Typical envenomation symptoms include local pain, swelling, mild local tissue necrosis, nausea, "tingling" of a digit or limb, and nausea. No confirmed deaths of humans have been reported for this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2712467 thalassinus Snakes of Central America Reptiles of Guatemala Reptiles of Honduras Reptiles described in 2000 Taxa named by Jonathan A. Campbell