A new genus and species of cryptic Asian green pitviper (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) from southwest China
Author
Guo, Peng
Author
Wang, Yuezhao
text
Zootaxa
2011
2918
1
14
journal article
46657
10.5281/zenodo.203545
47fcbd21-122f-404a-a558-7d71b7883fa6
1175-5326
203545
Sinovipera
gen. nov.
Figs. 3–7
Type
species.
Sinovipera sichuanensis
sp. nov.
Diagnosis.
A genus of Asian pitviper within
Trimeresurus
(
sensu lato
) having the following combination of characters: (1) the first supralabial completely separated from the nasal; (2) a uniform green dorsum without postocular streak and ventrolateral stripes in females; (3) eyes deep red in females; (4) tail prehensile, its end rusty red in upper part; (5) large body size, with the maximum total length exceeding
1000 mm
in females.
Distribution.
Presently, it is only known from the
type
locality, although it also likely occurs in western Chongqing, northwestern Guizhou,
China
.
Etymology.
The generic nomen
Sinovipera
is derived from the modern Latin adjective
sinicus
(
a
,
um
), based on the noun
Sina
(-
ae
), “
China
”, and the Latin noun
Vipera
(-ae), meaning '“a viper”. We suggest that the common name of this new genus be “Chinese pitviper” in English.
Content.
This genus at present contains a single species,
Sinovipera sichuanensis
sp. nov
, the description of which is given below.