Bothriechis

Bothriechis is a genus of pit vipers, commonly called palm vipersMehrtens JM (1987). Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . or palm-pit vipersCampbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1,500 plates. . found predominantly in Mexico and Central America. All members are relatively slender and arboreal. The name Bothriechis is derived from the Greek words bothros and echis that mean "pit" and "viper" respectively. Ten species and no subspecies are currently generally recognized.

Description Species that belong to the genus Bothriechis typically reach a total length (tail included) of , while B. aurifer, B. bicolor and B. lateralis are known to grow to a total length of or more.

General characteristics include a sharply defined canthus rostralis, an unelevated snout, a rostral scale that is not as high as it is broad, and a prehensile tail that accounts for at least 15% of the body length.

The color pattern usually consists of a green ground color that may or may not include pale or dark markings. B. schlegelii is an exception to this rule.

Geographic range Bothriechis species occur in southern Mexico (southeastern Oaxaca and the northern highlands of Chiapas), through Central America to northern South America (Colombia, western Venezuela, Ecuador and northern Peru).

Behavior As a general rule, species of Bothriechis found above altitude tend to be diurnal, while those found below tend to be active at night. Those found between may be active at any time of the day.

Venom Bothriechis venom is primarily a haemotoxin which causes severe pain, swelling, bleb formation, bruising, and quite often necrosis. If untreated it can lead to loss of a limb, or even death. Each year several farmers and plantation workers are bitten by eyelash vipers, sometimes resulting in fatalities. Wyeth in the United States and Instituto Clodomiro Picado in Costa Rica both manufacture different polyvalent antivenins which can be used to treat eyelash viper envenomations.

Species There are 19 recognized species. ImageSpeciesTaxon authorCommon nameGeographic rangeB. aurifer(Salvin, 1860)yellow-blotched palm-pitviperMexico, in the mountains of eastern Chiapas, in northern Guatemala. Occurs in cloud forest at 1200–2300 m altitude.B. bicolor(Boucourt, 1868)Guatemalan palm-pitviperThe Pacific slope of southeastern Chiapas in Mexico, eastward to south-central Guatemala. Also known from several locations in Honduras, including the southern part of the Sierra del Merendón and Cerro Santa Bárbara. Occurs in cloud forests at 500–2000 m altitude.B. guifarroiTownsend, Medina-Flores,Wilson, Jadin & Austin, 2013Guifarro's palm-pitviperHonduras at 1015–1450 m altitude. "Found in the western portion of Cordillera Nombre de Dios, Department of Atlantida, Honduras."B. hussainiArteaga et al. 2024Hussain's eyelash pitviperB. khwargiArteaga et al. 2024Khwarg’s eyelash pitviperB. klebbaiArteaga et al. 2024Klebba's eyelash pitviperB. lateralisW. Peters, 1862side-striped palm-pitviperThe mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama, including the Cordillera de Tilarán, the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera de Talamanca to the provinces of Chiriquí Province and Veraguas. Occurs at 850–980 m altitude.B. marchi(Barbour & Loveridge, 1929)Honduran palm-pitviperThe Atlantic versant of northwestern Honduras and eastern Guatemala. Occurs in mesic forest at elevations of 500–1500 m altitude.B. nigroadspersusSteindachner, 1870Central American eyelash pitviperFrom southern Mexico (northern Chiapas), southeastward on the Atlantic slope and lowlands through Central America. Also found on the Pacific versant and lowlands in parts of Costa Rica and Panama. Occurs in mesic forest at elevations almost from sea level to 1434m altitude.B. nigroviridisTW. Peters, 1859black-speckled palm-pitviperThe mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. Also found in the cloud forests of the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera de Talamanca at 1150–2400 m altitude.B. nitidusGünther, 1859Ecuadorian eyelash pitviperB. nubestrisDoan, Mason, Castoe, Sasa & Parkinson, 2016Talamancan palm-pitviperCosta Rica. San Isidro de El General, Province of San José at approximately 3000 m altitude.B. rahimiArteaga et al. 2024Rahim's eyelash pitviperB. rasikusumorumArteaga et al. 2024Shah's eyelash pitviperB. rowleyi(Bogert, 1968)Mexican palm-pitviperMexico in southeastern Oaxaca and northern Chiapas. Occurs in cloud forests at 1500–1830 m altitude.B. schlegelii(Berthold, 1846)highland eyelash pitviper, Schlegel’s eyelash pitviperColombia, primarily in highland regionsB. supraciliaris(Taylor, 1954)blotched eyelash pitviperOnly found in a mountainous area in southwestern Costa Rica. Occurs in lower montane wet forest and cloud forest at elevations from 800 m to 1,700 m.B. thalassinusCampbell & E.N. Smith, 2000Merendon palm-pitviperGuatemala, Honduras at 1370–1750 m altitude.B. torvusPosada-Arango, 1889Birri eyelash pitviper T type species

Taxonomy A new species of Bothriechis from Guatemala and Honduras, B. thalassinus, was described by Campbell & E.N. Smith (2000). Campbell & Lamar (2004) recognize this species, as well as a ninth addition to the genus: B. supraciliaris, which was first described by Taylor (1954) as a subspecies of B. schlegelii, and is found in southwestern Costa Rica.

In 2024, a systematic revision of B. schlegelii through DNA-sequencing split it into an additional number of species: B. klebbai, B. rasikusumorum, B. khwargi, B. rahimi, and B. hussaini. At the same time names that were previously synonyms were revalidated: B. nigroadspersus (Steindachner, 1870), B. nitidus (Günther, 1859), and B. torvus (Posada Arango, 1889a). Due to the close relation between these species alongside B. supraciliaris, they are considered to be part of a B. schlegelii species complex, otherwise referred to as the "eyelash clade" within Bothriechis. These "eyelash vipers" form a monophyletic clade that is sister to the rest of the genus.

B. guifarroi was discovered in 2010 and described by Townsend et al. in 2013, in a study that included the following suggested phylogenetic tree of the genus:

References

Bothriechis

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