''Mixcoatlus browni'' (commonly known as Brown's montane pit viper, sometimes Mexican montane pitviper) is a species 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 ...

found at high elevations in Guerrero, Mexico. This species was previously placed in the genus ''

Agkistrodon ''Agkistrodon'' is a genus of pit vipers commonly known as American moccasins.Crother, B. I. (ed.). 2017. ''Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in ...

'', where it was considered to be a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''

Cerrophidion barbouri :''Common names: Barbour's montane pit viper,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. . Barbour's pit viper Mehrtens J ...

''. Molecular evidence has since demonstrated that ''M. browni'' is a distinct species and the genus name was subsequently changed. The genus ''Mixcoatlus'' is derived from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

word ''

Mixcoatl Mixcoatl (, from mixtli "cloud" and cōātl "serpent"), or Camaxtle or Camaxtli, was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. He was the patron deity of the Otomi peopl ...

'' or "cloud serpent", a deity of the

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

and several other

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

civilizations. This name also refers to the geographic restriction of this clade to elevations above .

Description

Not much is known about this species. This species is diurnal and it is usually found basking or moving throughout the day. This species has been seen by researchers to have more of a

prehensile Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term ''prehendere'', meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely derived from a number of different origin ...

tail than other species in this genus. There is currently no evidence to suggest that ''M. browni'' is

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 ...

, although it does climb low vegetation.

Geographic range

''Mixcoatlus browni'' is constricted to the

cloud forests A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, ...

of western

Sierra Madre del Sur The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca. Geography The Sierra Madre del Sur joins with the Eje Volcánico Transv ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, Mexico. They been recorded at elevations up to above sea level.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3317265 Crotalinae Reptiles described in 1938 Snakes of North America Endemic reptiles of Mexico Fauna of the Sierra Madre del Sur Taxa named by Benjamin Shreve