Bothrops leucurus Wagler, 1824

Guedes, Thaís B., Nogueira, Cristiano & Marques, Otavio A. V., 2014, Diversity, natural history, and geographic distribution of snakes in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 3863 (1), pp. 1-93 : 24

Bothrops leucurus Wagler, 1824 “ Jararaca ”

(Figs. 10.2 and 22.4)

It was recorded in the states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Sergipe, and Bahia, generally close to the eastern borders of the Caatinga, along its contact with the Atlantic Forests. It was recorded in low altitude near the Atlantic Forest, but only in highland (750 to 900 m elevation) inside semi-arid caatinga. It occurs throughout the Atlantic Forest of northeastern of Brazil ( Argôlo 2004). Inside Caatinga, it can be found on moist forest vegetation and caatinga in high altitudes as described in Juncá (2005), and Filho and Montingelli (2011), and wetter arboreal and bushy caatinga close to the Atlantic Forest. As other members of the atrox species group ( Werman 1992), this species is typical of forested habitats ( Cunha & Nascimento 1978; Martins & Oliveira 1998; Nogueira et al. 2003; Campbell & Lamar 2004). It has terrestrial habits, is nocturnal, and is a generalized feeder on vertebrates (Martins et al. 2002; Argôlo 2004).