Trimeresurus mcgregori explained

Trimeresurus mcgregori, commonly known as McGregor's pit viper[1] or the Batanes pit viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae.[1] The species is endemic to the Philippines.

Etymology

The specific name, mcgregori, is in honor of Australian-American ornithologist Richard Crittenden McGregor (1871–1936), who collected the type specimen,[2] and survived its bite.[3]

Description

The scalation of T. mcgregori includes 21 (23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 170-172/173-178 (or 169-172/168-178) ventral scales in males/females, 62-66/58-60 (or 63-69/56-62) subcaudal scales in males/females, and 10–11 supralabial scales.[1]

Geographic range

T. mcgregori is found in the Philippines on the Batanes Islands. The type locality given is "Batan Island, Batanes Group, (lying between Luzon and Formosa)" (Philippine Islands).

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of T. mcgregori are forest and shrubland, at altitudes from sea level to, but it has also been found in agricultural areas.

Taxonomy

T. mcgregori was originally described as a new species by E.H. Taylor in 1919.[4] It was considered to be a subspecies of T. flavomaculatus by Alan E. Leviton (1961). It was re-elevated to a full species by Andreas Gumprecht (2001, 2002).[1]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. [species:Andreas Gumprecht|Gumprecht A]
  2. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
  3. [Edward Harrison Taylor|Taylor]
  4. Taylor (1919), p. 110.