Trimeresurus

{{Short description|Genus of snakes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Trimeresurus albolabris, White-lipped pit viper (female) - Kaeng Krachan National Park (27493423545).jpg | image_caption = White-lipped pit viper, ''T. albolabris'' | taxon = Trimeresurus | authority = Lacépède, 1804 | synonyms = * ''Trimeresurus'' Lacepède, 1804 * ''Craspedocephalus'' Kuhl & van Hasselt, 1822 * ''Trimeresura'' – Fleming, 1822 * ''Craspedocephalus'' – Gray, 1825 * ''Megaera'' Wagler, 1830 * ''Atropos'' Wagler, 1830 * ''Trimesurus'' Gray, 1842<ref name="McD99">McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> }}

'''''Trimeresurus''''' is a genus of pit vipers native to Asia. They are found from the Indian subcontinent throughout Southeast Asia, China, and the Pacific Islands. The genus currently contains 44 recognized species.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=209553 |taxon=''Trimeresurus '' |accessdate=27 September 2006}}</ref> Common names include '''Asian palm pit vipers''',<ref name="Meh87">Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. {{ISBN|0-8069-6460-X}}.</ref> '''Asian lanceheads''', and '''green pit vipers'''.<ref name="USN91">United States Navy (1991). ''Poisonous Snakes of the World''. New York: U.S. Government / Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. {{ISBN|0-486-26629-X}}.</ref>

==Description== Most species in the genus ''Trimeresurus'' are relatively small, primarily arboreal species, with thin bodies and prehensile tails. Most ''Trimeresurus'' species are typically green in color, but some species also have yellow, black, orange, red, or gold markings.

==Feeding== The diet of ''Trimeresurus'' species includes a variety of animals, including lizards, amphibians, birds, rodents, and other small mammals.

==Reproduction== Like most viper species, many of the species in the genus ''Trimeresurus'' are ovoviviparous, bearing live young. However, some species such as ''T. macrolepis'' and ''T. hageni'' are oviparous, laying eggs. Also, the reproductive biology of some ''Trimeresurus'' species is as yet unknown.

==Venom== ''Trimeresurus'' venom varies in toxicity between species, but all are primarily hemotoxic and considered to be medically significant to humans.

==Geographic range== Species in the genus ''Trimeresurus'' are found in Southeast Asia from India (including regions of the North Chotanagpur division of Jharkhand) to Southern China, Taiwan, and Japan, and the Malay Archipelago to Timor.<ref name="McD99"/>

==Species== {|class="wikitable" !Image !Species<ref name="ITIS"/> !Taxon author<ref name="ITIS"/> !Subsp.*<ref name="ITIS"/> !Common name<ref name="Gum04">Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S (2004). ''Asian Pitvipers''. First Edition. Berlin: GeitjeBooks. 368 pp. {{ISBN|3-937975-00-4}}.</ref> !Geographic range<ref name="McD99"/> |- |190px |''T. albolabris'' |Gray, 1842 |align="center"|0 |style="width:20%"|white-lipped pit viper |style="width:35%"|India (Assam), Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Southern China (Fujian, Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong), Hong Kong, West Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, Madura, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Sumba, Rote, Timor, Kisar, Wetar). |- |190px |''T. andersonii'' |Theobald, 1868 |align="center"|0 |Anderson's pit viper, Andaman pit viper |Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands. |- | |''T. arunachalensis'' |Captain, Deepak, Pandit, Bhatt & Athreya, 2019 |align="center"|0 |Arunachal pit viper |India: Arunachal Pradesh |- |190px |''T. ayerwadyensis'' |Chan, Anuar, Sankar, Law, Law, Shivaram, Christian, Mulcahy & Malhotra, 2023 |align="center"|0 |Ayerwady pit viper |Myanmar |- | |''T. calamitas'' |Vogel, David & Sidik, 2022 |align="center"|0 | |Indonesia (Nias Island). |- | |''T. cantori'' |Blyth, 1846 |align="center"|0 |Cantor's pit viper |India: Nicobar Islands, and possibly the Andaman Islands. |- |190px |''T. cardamomensis'' |Malhotra, Thorpe, Mrinalini & B. Stuart, 2011 |align="center"|0 |Cardamom Mountains green pit viper |Eastern Thailand, Koh Kong Province in Cambodia. |- | |''T. caudornatus'' |Chen, Ding, Vogel & S. Shi, 2020 |align="center"|0 |ornamental-tailed pit viper |China (Yunnan). |- | |''T. ciliaris'' |Idiiatullina, Pawangkhanant, Tawan, Worranuch, Dechochai, Suwannapoom, Nguyen, Chanhome & Poyarkov, 2023 |align="center"|0 |limestone eyelash pit viper |Thailand |- | |''T. cryptographicus'' |Pawangkhanant, Idiiatullina, Ruangsuwan, Matsukoji, David, Suwannapoom & Poyarkov, 2025 |align="center"|0 |Cryptic green pit viper |Thailand |- | |''T. Cyanolabris'' |Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Bragin, Pawangkhanant, Le, Vogel, David & Poyarkov, 2024 |align="center"|0 |blue lipped green pit viper |Vietnam |- | |''T. davidi'' |Chandramouli, P. Campbell & Vogel, 2020.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chandramouli |first1=S.R. |author1-link=species:S.R. Chandramouli |last2=Campbell |first2=Patrick D. |author2-link=species:Patrick D. Campbell |last3=Vogel |first3=Gernot |author3-link=Gernot Vogel |title=A new species of green pit viper of the genus ''Trimeresurus'' Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia: Serpentes: Viperidae) from the Nicobar Archipelago, Indian Ocean |journal=Amphibian & Reptile Conservation |date=1 November 2020 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=169–176 |url=http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/pdfs/Volume/Vol_14_no_3/ARC_14_3_%5bTaxonomy_Section%5d_169-176_e264.pdf |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> |align="center"|0 | |Car Nicobar, India. |- | |''T. erythrochloris'' |Pawangkhanant, Idiiatullina, Smits, Dugdale, Pierce, Suwannapoom & Poyarkov, 2025 |align="center"|0 |Red barred green pit viper |Thailand |- |190px |''T. erythrurus'' |Cantor, 1839 |align="center"|0 |red-tailed bamboo pit viper |India (Assam and Sikkim), Bangladesh and Myanmar. |- | |''T. fasciatus'' |Boulenger, 1896 |align="center"|0 |banded pit viper |Indonesia: Djampea Island. |- |190px |''T. flavomaculatus'' |Gray, 1842 |align="center"|2 |Philippine pit viper |Philippine Islands: Agutayan, Batan, Camiguin, Catanduanes, Dinagat, Jolo, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros and Polillo. |- |190px |''T. gracilis'' |Ōshima, 1920 |align="center"|0 |Kikushi habu |Central Taiwan. |- |190px |''T. gumprechti'' |David, Vogel, Pauwels & Vidal, 2002 |align="center"|0 |Gumprecht's green pit viper |China (Yunnan), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam. |- | |''T. gunaleni'' |Vogel, David & Sidik, 2014 |align="center"|0 |Gunalen's pit viper |Sumatra. |- |190px |''T. guoi'' |Chen, S. Shi, Vogel & Ding, 2020 |align="center"|0 |Guo's green pit viper |China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar. |- |190px |''T. hageni'' |Lidth de Jeude, 1886 |align="center"|0 |Hagen's pit viper |Peninsular Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra and the nearby islands of Bangka, Simalur, Nias, Batu and the Mentawai Islands. |- | |''T. honsonensis'' |L. Grismer, Ngo & J. Grismer, 2008 |align="center"|0 |Hon Son pit viper |Southern Vietnam. |- |190px |''T. insularis'' |Kramer, 1977 |align="center"|0 |Sunda Island pit viper, white-lipped island pit viper |Indonesia, Timor-Leste |- |190px |''T. kanburiensis'' |M.A. Smith, 1943 |align="center"|0 |Kanburi pit viper |Thailand. |- | |''T. kirscheyi'' |Vogel, David & Sidik, 2022 |align="center"|0 |Simeulue pit viper |Indonesia (Simeulue Island). |- | |''T. kraensis'' |Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Chanhome, Nguyen, David, Vogel & Poyarkov, 2024 |align="center"|0 |Nicobar Kra isthumus pit viper |India: Thailand. |- |190px |''T. kuiburi'' |Sumontha, Suntrarachun, Pauwels, Pawangkhanant, Chomngam, Iamwiriyakul & Chanhome, 2021 |align="center"|0 |Kui Buri pit viper |Thailand. |- | |''T. labialis'' |Steindachner, 1867 |align="center"|0 |Nicobar bamboo pit viper |India: Nicobar Islands. |- | |''T. lanna'' |Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Chanhome, Mirza, David, Vogel & Poyarkov, 2024 |align="center"|0 |Nicobar Lanna pit viper |India: Thailand. |- |thumb |''T. lii'' |Cai et al., 2026 <ref name="Cai2026">{{cite journal |last1=Cai |first1=Bo |last2=Gou |first2=Yubo |last3=Wang |first3=Gang |last4=Liu |first4=Fengjing |last5=Liang |first5=Dong |last6=Gu |first6=Xiaodong |last7=Gu |first7=Haijun |last8=Fang |first8=Haolong |last9=Liu |first9=Yuzhou |last10=Li |first10=Qiujie |last11=Ding |first11=Li |year=2026 |title=A New Species of the Genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Squamata, Viperidae) from western Sichuan Province, China |journal=Zoosystematics and Evolution |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=285–302 |doi=10.3897/zse.102.178601 |doi-access=free |language=en}}</ref> |align="center"|0 |Huaxi Green Pitviper |West Sichuan, China. |- |thumb |''T. liqibini'' |Liang et al., 2026 <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liang |first1=Ya-Ting |last2=Ding |first2=Li |last3=Wu |first3=Zheng-Jun |last4=Yang |first4=Rui-Gang |last5=Chen |first5=Ze-Ning |date=2026 |title=Description of a new species from Yunnan, China, within the genus Trimeresurus (Reptilia, Squamata, Viperidae) by integrating morphological and genetic evidence |journal=Zoosystematics and Evolution |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=303–314 |doi=10.3897/zse.102.173390 |doi-access=free |language=en}}</ref> |align="center"|0 |Li Qibin’s Green Pit Viper |Yunan Province, China. |- |190px |''T. macrops'' |Kramer, 1977 |align="center"|0 |large-eyed pit viper |Thailand, Cambodia and southern Vietnam. |- |190px |''T. malcolmi'' |Loveridge, 1938 |align="center"|0 |Malcolm's pit viper |Borneo. |- |frameless|239x239px |''T. mayaae'' |Rathee, Purkayastha, Lalremsanga, Dalal, Biakzuala, Muansanga & Mirza, 2022<ref>Rathee YS, Purkayastha J, Lalremsanga HT, Dalal S, Biakzuala L, Muansanga L, Mirza ZA (2022). [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0268402 A new cryptic species of green pit viper of the genus ''Trimeresurus'' Lacépède, 1804 (Serpentes, Viperidae) from northeast India]. PLoS ONE 17(5): e0268402. {{doi|10.1371/journal.pone.0268402|doi-access=free}}</ref> |align="center"|0 |Maya's pit viper |India: Meghalaya (Ri Bhoi), Mizoram (Champhai), Assam (Guwahati)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Karmakar |first=Rahul |title=New species of venomous snake registered from Northeast |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/new-species-of-venomous-snake-registered-from-northeast/article65442320.ece |access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref> |- |190px |''T. mcgregori'' |Taylor, 1919 |align="center"|0 |McGregor's pit viper, McGregor's tree viper, Philippine pit viper |Batan Island, Philippines. |- |190px |''T. medoensis'' |Zhao, 1977 |align="center"|0 |Motuo bamboo pit viper |Northern India, northern Myanmar, and China (southeastern Xizang). |- | |''T. mutabilis'' |Stoliczka, 1870 |align="center"|0 |Central Nicobar pit viper, Central Nicobar bamboo pit viper |Central Nicobar Island. |- |190px |''T. nebularis'' |Vogel, David & Pauwels, 2004 |align="center"|0 |Cameron Highlands pit viper, clouded pit viper |West Malaysia (Cameron Highlands), Thailand. |- | |''T. phuketensis'' |Sumontha, Kunya, Pauwels, Nitikul & Punnadee, 2011 <ref>Sumontha M, Kunya K, Pauwels OSG, Nitikul A, Punnadee S (2011). "''Trimeresurus (Popeia) phuketensis'', a New Pitviper (Squamata: Viperidae) from Phuket Island, Southwestern Thailand". ''Russian Journal of Herpetology'' '''18''' (3): 11–17.</ref> |align="center"|0 |Phuket pit viper |Thailand: Phuket Island. |- |190px |''T. popeiorum'' |M.A. Smith, 1937 |align="center"|2 |Popes' pit viper |Northern India, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia (Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands of Siberut, Sipora, and North Pagai, and on the island of Borneo). |- |190px |''T. purpureomaculatus'' |Gray, 1832 |align="center"|0 |mangrove pit viper |Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra). |- |190px |''T. rubeus'' |(Malhotra, Thorpe, Mrinalini & L. Stuart, 2011) |align="center"|0 |ruby-eyed green pitviper |southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia |- |190px |''T. sabahi'' |Regenass & Kramer, 1981 |align="center"|0 |Sabah bamboo pit viper, Sabah pit viper |Sabah, Sarawak |- |frameless|190x190px |''T. salazar'' |Mirza, Bhosale, Phansalkar, Sawant, Gowande & Patel (2020) |align="center"|0 |Salazar's pit viper<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mirza |first1=Zeeshan A |last2=Bhosale |first2=Harshal S. |author2-link=species:Harshal Bhosale |last3=Phansalkar |first3=Pushkar U. |author3-link=species:Pushkar U. Phansalkar |last4=Sawant |first4=Mandar |author4-link=species:Mandar Sawant |last5=Gowande |first5=Gaurang G. |author5-link=species:Gaurang Gowande |last6=Patel |first6=Harshil |author6-link=species:Harshil Patel |title=A New Species of Green Pit Vipers of the Genus ''Trimeresurus'' Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia, Serpentes, Viperidae) from western Arunachal Pradesh, India |journal=Zoosystematics and Evolution |date=15 April 2020 |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=123–138 |doi=10.3897/zse.96.48431 |url=https://zse.pensoft.net/article/48431/ |access-date=24 April 2020|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020ZooEv..96..123M }}</ref> |India: western lowlands of Arunachal Pradesh |- |190px |''T. schultzei'' |Griffin, 1909 |align="center"|0 |Schultze's pit viper |Philippines: Palawan and Balabac. |- |190px |''T. septentrionalis'' |Kramer, 1977 |align="center"|0 |Nepal pit viper, Himalayan white-lipped pit viper |Bangladesh, India, Nepal |- | |''T. sichuanensis'' |Guo & Wang, 2011 |align="center"|0 |Sichuan pit viper |Sichuan, China |- |190px |''T. stejnegeri'' |Schmidt, 1925 |align="center"|2 |Stejneger's pit viper |India (Assam), and Nepal through Myanmar and Thailand to China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Yunnan) and Taiwan. |- |190px |''T. sumatranusT'' |Raffles, 1822 |align="center"|0 |Sumatran pit viper |Southern Thailand, West and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo) and Indonesia (Bangka, Billiton, Borneo, Sumatra and the nearby islands of Simalur, Nias, and possibly the Mentawai Islands [Sipora]). |- | |''T. Tennasserimensis'' |Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Chanhome, Mirza, David, Vogel & Poyarkov, 2024 |align="center"|0 |Tennasserim pit viper |Thailand. |- | |''T. tibetanus'' |Huang, 1982 |align="center"|0 |Tibetan bamboo pit viper |China: Xiang (Tibet) Autonomous Region. |- |190px |''T. truongsonensis'' |Orlov, Ryabov, Thanh & Cuc, 2004 |align="center"|0 |Quang Binh pit viper |Central Vietnam |- | |''T. uetzi'' |Vogel, Nguyen, David, 2023 |align="center"|0 |Uetz's pit viper |Myanmar. |- |190px |''T. venustus'' |Vogel, 1991 |align="center"|0 |beautiful pit viper, brown-spotted pit viper |Southern Thailand |- |190px |''T. vogeli'' |David, Vidal & Pauwels, 2001 |align="center"|0 |Vogel's pit viper |Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam. |- | |''T. whitteni'' | Vogel, David & Sidik, 2022 |align="center"|0 |Siberut pit viper |Indonesia (Siberut Island). |- | |''T. yingjiangensis'' |Chen, Ding, J. Shi & Zhang, 2019 |align="center"|0 | |Southwest China |- | |''T. yunnanensis'' |Schmidt, 1925 |align="center"|0 |Yunnan bamboo pit viper |Southern China |- |} ''*) Not including the nominate subspecies.'' T) Type species.<ref name="McD99"/>

==Taxonomy== Additional species that may be recognized by other sources include:<ref name=RDB/>

* ''T. barati'' Regenass & Kramer, 1981. Commonly called Barat's bamboo viper, found in Indonesia. * ''T. fucatus'' Vogel, David & Pauwels, 2004. Commonly called the Siamese peninsula pit viper and found in southern Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia.

The genus ''Trimeresurus'' (''sensu lato'') has been the subject of considerable taxonomic work since 2000, resulting in the recognition of additional genera within this complex. Most authors now recognise the genus ''Protobothrops'' for the species ''cornutus'', ''flavoviridis'', ''jerdonii'', ''kaulbacki'', ''mucrosquamatus'', ''tokarensis'', ''xiangchengensis'',<ref>Kraus F, Mink DG, Brown WM (1996). "Crotaline intergeneric relationships based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data". ''Copeia'' '''1996''': 763–773.</ref><ref name="MT2004">Malhotra A, Thorpe RS (2004). "A phylogeny of four mitochondrial gene regions suggests a revised taxonomy for Asian pitvipers (''Trimeresurus'' and ''Ovophis'')". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' '''32''': 83–100.</ref><ref name="Castoe">Castoe TA, Parkinson CL (2006). "Bayesian mixed models and the phylogeny of pitvipers (Viperidae: Serpentes)". ''Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' '''39''': 91–110.</ref> since these have been shown not to be closely related to other ''Trimeresurus'' in recent phylogenetic analyses.

In addition, Malhotra and Thorpe (2004)<ref name="MT2004"/> proposed a radical shake up of the entire genus, splitting ''Trimeresurus'' into seven genera. Their proposed arrangement (including species described since 2004) is shown in the table below:

{| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Genus ! Species included |- | ''Trimeresurus'' | ''andalasensis, borneensis, brongersmai, gramineus, malabaricus, puniceus, salazar, strigatus, trigonocephalus, wiroti'' |- | ''Cryptelytrops'' | ''albolabris, andersonii, cantori, erythrurus, fasciatus, honsonensis'' (Hon Son Pit Viper), ''insularis, kanburiensis, labialis, macrops, purpureomaculatus, rubeus, septentrionalis, venustus'' |- | ''Himalayophis'' | ''tibetanus'' |- | ''Parias'' | ''flavomaculatus, hageni, malcolmi, mcgregori, schultzei, sumatranus'' |- | ''Peltopelor'' | ''macrolepis'' |- | ''Popeia'' | ''barati, buniana, fucata, nebularis, popeiorum, sabahi'' |- | ''Viridovipera'' | ''gumprechti, medoensis, stejnegeri, truongsonensis, vogeli, yunnanensis'' |}

This new arrangement has been followed by many,<ref name="Castoe"/><ref>Grismer LL, Grismer JL, McGuire JA (2006). "A new species of pitviper of the genus ''Popeia'' (Squamata: Viperidae) from Pulau Tioman, Pahang, West Malaysia". ''Zootaxa'' '''1305''': 1–19.</ref> but not all<ref name=RDB/><ref>Vogel G (2006). ''Venomous Snakes of Asia / Giftschlangen Asiens''. Frankfurt am Main: Terralog, Edition Chimaira.</ref> subsequent authors.

David et al. (2011) considered some of the genera of Malhotra & Thorpe to be subgenera of the genus ''Trimeresurus'', creating new combinations such as ''"Trimeresurus (Parias) flavomaculatus"'', ''"Trimeresurus (Popeia) popeiorum"'', ''"Trimeresurus (Viridovipera) stejnegeri"'', etc.<ref>David, Patrick; Vogel, Gernot; Dubois, Alain (2011). "On the need to follow rigorously the Rules of the ''Code'' for the subsequent designation of a nucleospecies (type species) for a nominal genus which lacked one: the case of the nominal genus ''Trimeresurus'' Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae)". ''Zootaxa'' '''2992''': 1–51.</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery> Image:Trimeresurus vogeli, Vogel's Pit Viper (juvenile) - Khao Yai National Park 01.jpg|A juvenile ''T. vogeli'' in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand Image:Trimeresurus fucatus, Banded pit viper.jpg|''Trimeresurus fucatus'' from Khao Sok National Park, Thailand Image:Trimeresurus albolabris (adult, female).jpg|''Trimeresurus albolabris'' from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand Image:Trimeresurus gumprechti.jpg|''Trimeresurus gumprechti'', Gumprecht's green pit viper, from Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Thailand Image:Trimeresurus macrops, Large-eyed pit viper.jpg|''Trimeresurus macrops'' from Khao Yai National Park, Thailand Image:Trimeresurus-popeorum-Pope's-pit-viper-(female)-Kaeng-Krachan-National-Park.jpg|''Trimeresurus popeiorum'' from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand </gallery>

==See also== * Craspedocephalus * Ovophis * Protobothrops

==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=RDB>{{NRDB genus|genus=Trimeresurus |date=2 February |year=2017}}</ref> }}

==Further reading== {{Commons category|Trimeresurus}} {{Wikispecies|Trimeresurus}} *Lacépède BG (1804). "''[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/93709#page/187/mode/1up Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle-Hollande dont la description n'a pas encore été publiée]'' " [= Memoir on several animals of New Holland whose description has not yet been published]. ''Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris'' '''4''': 184–211. (''Trimeresurus'', new genus, p. 209). (in French).

Category:Trimeresurus Category:Snake genera Category:Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède