Protobothrops Kaulbacki
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''Protobothrops kaulbacki'', commonly known as Kaulback's lance-headed pit viper or Kaulback's lance-headed pit viper, Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL,
Captain A Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
, Ryabov S (2004). ''Asian Pit vipers''. Berlin: Geitje Books. First Edition. 368 pp. .
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 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), ...
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. 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.


Etymology

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 ...
, ''kaulbacki'', is in honor of British explorer Ronald Kaulback.


Description

Adult males of ''P. kaulbacki'' may attain a total length of , which includes a tail long. Females may grow longer: maximum total length , tail .
Dorsally Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provi ...
, it is green, with a vertebral series of dark angular spots, which may be joined to form a zigzag stripe. The top of the head is black with yellow stripes. Ventrally, except for the whitish throat area, it is gray with large squarish or crescent-shaped yellow spots.Smith MA (1943). ''The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes''. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (''Protobothrops kaulbacki'', p. 512). Scalation includes 25 rows of
dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...
at midbody, 201–212
ventral scales In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that cont ...
, 66–78
subcaudal scales In snakes, the subcaudal scales are the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail. Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. (7t ...
, and 8
supralabial scales In reptiles, the supralabial scales, also called upper-labials, are those scales that border the mouth opening along the upper jaw. They do not include the median scaleWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates ( ...
of which the third is the largest.


Geographic range

''P. kaulbacki'' had originally been known only from the type locality, which is "Pangnamdim, north of the Triangle,
Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including ...
" (
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
). In 2005 it was reported also from
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
(China). It also occurs in
Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...
(NE India).


Habitat

The preferred natural
habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s of ''P. kaulbacki'' are
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
,
shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
, and
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
, at altitudes of .


Reproduction

''P. kaulbacki'' 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 ...
. The adult female lays a
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...
of 6–32
egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
s in a hole in the ground, and then remains with the eggs to guard them. Eggs measure 48–53 mm x 26–27 mm (about 2 in x 1 in). Each hatchling is 26–27 cm (about 10½ inches) in total length.


Behavior

''P. kaulbacki'' is
terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...
and partly arboreal.Harrington, Sean M.; de Haan, Jordyn M.; Shapiro, Lindsey; Ruane, Sara (2018). "Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification". ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 125 (1): 61–71.


References


Further reading

* Kraus, Fred; Mink, Daniel G.; Brown, Wesley M. (1996). "Crotaline Intergeneric Relationships Based on Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Data". ''Copeia'' 1996 (4): 763–773. (''Protobothrops kaulbacki'', new combination). * Smith MA (1940). "The Amphibians and Reptiles obtained by Mr. Ronald Kaulback in Upper Burma". ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 42: 465–486. (''Protobothrops kaulbacki'', new species, p. 485, Plate VIII, Figure 5). {{Taxonbar, from1=Q5074994, from2=Q7842183 kaulbacki Snakes of China Reptiles of India Reptiles of Myanmar Fauna of Tibet Reptiles described in 1940 Taxa named by Malcolm Arthur Smith