Bothriechis marchi explained

Bothriechis marchi, also known as Honduran palm pit viper and March's palm pit viper, is a species of pitviper, a venomous snake, in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Central America.^[1] There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

Etymology

The specific name, marchi, is in honor of herpetologist Douglas H. March, who died from the bite of a fer-de-lance in 1939.^[2]

Description

Adults of B. marchi often grow to more than in total length (including tail). The largest specimen on record was . March's palm pit viper is green and relatively slender with a prehensile tail.^[1]

Geographic range

Bothriechis marchi is found on the Atlantic versant of northwestern Honduras. Its range might extend into eastern Guatemala. Records from Nicaragua are probably in error. It occurs in mesic forest at elevations of 500- altitude. The type locality given is "the Gold Mines at Quimistan [probably El Oro, Municipio de Quimistán, in the Sierra de Espíritu Santo to the northwest of the town of Quimistán], [Departamento de] Santa Barbara, Honduras Republic".

Reproduction

Bothriechis marchi is viviparous.

Further reading

• Barbour T, Loveridge A (1929). "On some Hondurian and Guatemalan snakes with the description of a new arboreal pit viper of the genus Bothrops ". Bulletin of the Antivenin Institute of America 3: 1–3. (Bothrops nigroviridis marchi, new subspecies).

Notes and References

1. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1,500 plates. .
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Bothriechis marchi, p. 168).