Trimeresurus puniceus (Kuhl, 1824)

David, Patrick, Vogel, Gernot, Vijayakumar, S. P. & Vidal, Nicolas, 2006, A revision of the Trimeresurus puniceus-complex (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) based on morphological and molecular data, Zootaxa 1293 (1), pp. 1-78 : 19-22

Trimeresurus puniceus group

Toriba (1992) stressed the importance of the contact between the 2 nd SL and the loreal pit to distinguish two groups among the “ Trimeresurus puniceus ­complex”, a major

Abbreviations. —See in Material and methods

Note.—Specimens referred to above as Trimeresurus cf. puniceus are not included in this table.

Abbreviations.—See in Material and methods.

difference previously mostly overlooked although it was mentioned as early as in Baumann (1913). The importance of this character was confirmed by David & Vogel (1996). Gumprecht & Tepedelen (1999), who overlooked all these authors or failed to mention them, cited the same constant character.

We place in the informal Trimeresurus puniceus group all populations of which specimens share the following characters: (1) nose projected but not spatulate and bilobate; (2) second supralabial not bordering the loreal pit. In a preliminary approach, we recognize in this group two species and one population incertae sedis, as follows.

As a consequence, the Trimeresurus puniceus ­group as defined here is separated from the Trimeresurus borneensis ­group by (1) the shape of the snout, (2) the condition of the contact between the 2 nd SL and the loreal pit, (3) the mean number of supraoculars, and (4) the pattern in males, much more complex and contrasted in the T. puniceus ­group. Another character, somewhat trivial but nevertheless constant, is the relative shape of the 3 rd SL. The ratio L­3SL/H­3SL varies as 1.0– 1.3 in all examined specimens of the T. puniceus ­ group, vs. 1.3–1.9 in the T. borneensis ­group. Gumprecht & Tepedelen (1999) stated that the shape of the nose was an useless character. We confirm that, if the nose can be barely spatulate in the T. puniceus ­group, it is never as distinctly bilobate as in members of the T. borneensis ­group.