''Lachesis melanocephala'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
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 ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Viperidae
Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous snake, venomous and have long (relat ...
. The species is native to
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
and
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
. There are no
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
that are recognized as being valid.
Common names
Common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
s for ''L. melanocephala'' include black-headed bushmaster,
[Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. 2 volumes. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1,500 plates. .] as well as ''cascabel muda'' ("silent
rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genus, genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting sm ...
") and ''matabuey'' in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
.
Description
Adults of ''L. melanocephala'' frequently grow to in total length (including tail). The largest reported specimens were by
Solórzano
Solórzano is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continenta ...
(2004), and by Ripa (2001).
The top of the head is uniform black in color,
to which the
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''melanocephala'', and common name refer.
Geographic range
''L. melanocephala'' is found in Costa Rica on the Pacific versant of southeastern
Puntarenas
Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which comprises the Puntarenas, Chacarita and El Roble districts. A ...
province from near sea level to about 1500 m (about 4,900 feet). It is also found in Finca Hartmann in Panama's
Chiriqui Province. The
type locality given is "tropical rainforest 9 km northern of Ciudad Neily in southeastern Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica."
Campbell and
Lamar (2004) describe its range as southwestern Costa Rica and possibly extreme western Panama, but state that almost all locality records are from Puntarenas province.
Savage
Savage may refer to:
* Savage (pejorative term), a derogatory term to describe a member of a people the speaker regards as primitive and uncivilized
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Bill Savage, in the 2000 AD ''Invasion!'' ...
(2002) and
Dwyer &
Perez (2009) confirmed its existence in Panama.
[
]
Diet
''L. melanocephala'' preys predominately upon small rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
s, especially spiny rats.[
]
Reproduction
''L. melanocephala'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.[ In captivity, females typically lay clutches of 5-19 eggs in a burrow where the eggs will incubate for 60-80 days. Dean Ripa, who survived four envenomations from bushmaster snakes, was the first person to breed the black-headed bushmaster (L. melanocephala) in captivity, of which were supplied to zoos and research institutions internationally.]
References
Further reading
* Savage JM (2002). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas''. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. xx + 945 pp. .
* Solórzano, Alejandro; Cerdas, Luis (1986). "A New Subspecies of the Bushmaster, ''Lachesis muta'', from Southeastern Costa Rica". ''Journal of Herpetology'' 20 (3): 463–466. (''Lachesis muta melanocephala'', new subspecies).
melanocephala
Snakes of Central America
Reptiles of Costa Rica
Reptiles of Panama
Reptiles described in 1986
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