Lachesis melanocephala

{{Short description|Species of snake}} {{Speciesbox | image = Lachesis melanocephala.JPG | genus = Lachesis | species = melanocephala | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=[[species:Alejandro Solórzano|Solórzano, A.]], [[species:Louis W. Porras|Porras, L.W.]], [[species:Gerardo Chaves|Chaves, G.]], [[species:Víctor J. Acosta-Chaves|Acosta Chaves, V.]] & [[Quetzal Dwyer|Dwyer, Q.]] |year=2021 |title=''Lachesis melanocephala'' |volume=2021 |article-number=e.T203668A2769585|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref> | authority = [[species:Alejandro Solórzano|Solórzano]] & [[species:Luis Cerdas|Cerdas]], 1986 | synonyms = * ''Lachesis muta melanocephala'' Solórzano & Cerdas, 1986 * ''Lachesis melanocephala'' — [[species:Kelly Raquel Zamudio|Zamudio]] & [[species:Harry W. Greene|Greene]], 1997 | synonyms_ref = <ref name="McD99">[[species:Roy Wallace McDiarmid|McDiarmid RW]], [[Jonathan A. Campbell|Campbell JA]], [[species:T'Shaka A. Touré|Touré TA]] (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1.'' Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> }}

'''''Lachesis melanocephala''''' is a [[species]] of [[Crotalinae|pit viper]] in the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Viperidae]]. The species is native to [[Costa Rica]] and [[Panama]]. There are no [[subspecies]] that are recognized as being valid.<ref name=RDB>{{NRDB species|genus=Lachesis|species=melanocephala|date=19 March|year=2015}}</ref><ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=634896 |taxon=''Lachesis melanocephala'' |access-date=5 August 2008}}</ref>

==Common names== [[Common name]]s for ''L. melanocephala'' include '''black-headed bushmaster''',<ref name="C&L04">Campbell JA, [[species:William W. Lamar|Lamar WW]] (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. 2 volumes. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1,500 plates. {{ISBN|0-8014-4141-2}}.</ref> as well as '''''cascabel muda''''' ("silent [[rattlesnake]]") and '''''matabuey''''' in [[Spanish language|Spanish]].

==Description== Adults of ''L. melanocephala'' frequently grow to {{convert|1.9|–|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} in total length (including tail). The largest reported specimens were {{convert|2.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} by [[species:Alejandro Solórzano|Solórzano]] (2004), and {{convert|2.4|m|ft|abbr=on}} by Ripa (2001).

The top of the head is uniform black in color,<ref name="C&L04"/> to which the [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]], ''melanocephala'', and common name refer.

==Geographic range== ''L. melanocephala'' is found in Costa Rica on the Pacific versant of southeastern [[Puntarenas]] province from near sea level to about 1500 m (about 4,900 feet). It is also found in Finca Hartmann in Panama's [[Chiriqui Province]]. The [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] given is "tropical rainforest 9 km northern of Ciudad Neily in southeastern Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica."<ref name="McD99"/>

[[Jonathan A. Campbell|Campbell]] and [[species:William W. Lamar|Lamar]] (2004) describe its range as southwestern Costa Rica and possibly extreme western Panama, but state that almost all locality records are from Puntarenas province.<ref name="C&L04"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fernandez |first=Ileana |date=2022-09-01 |title=Rare "Plato Negro" Snake Species Rescued in Costa Rica |url=https://ticotimes.net/2022/09/01/rare-plato-negro-snake-species-rescued-in-costa-rica |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=The Tico Times {{!}} Costa Rica News {{!}} Travel {{!}} Real Estate |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902224953/https://ticotimes.net/2022/09/01/rare-plato-negro-snake-species-rescued-in-costa-rica }}</ref> [[Jay M. Savage|Savage]] (2002) and [[Quetzal Dwyer|Dwyer]] & [[Monica Perez|Perez]] (2009) confirmed its existence in Panama.<ref name=IUCN/>

==Diet== ''L. melanocephala'' [[Predation|preys]] predominately upon small [[rodent]]s, especially [[Echimyidae|spiny rats]].<ref name=IUCN/>

==Reproduction== ''L. melanocephala'' is [[Oviparity|oviparous]].<ref name=RDB/> In captivity, females typically lay clutches of 5-19 eggs in a burrow where the eggs will incubate for 60-80 days.<ref>De Plecker, Roel & Dwyer, Quetzal. (2020). First Breeding of the Black-headed Bushmaster (Lachesis melanocephala) in Costa Rica. Herpetological Review. 51. 57-64. </ref> [[Dean Ripa]], who survived four envenomations from bushmaster snakes, was the first person to breed the black-headed bushmaster (L. melanocephala) in captivity, of which were supplied to zoos and research institutions internationally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Love and Death in the Cape Fear Serpentarium |url=https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-48-winter-2005/love-and-death-in-the-cape-fear-serpentarium |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=Oxford American |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=First Breeding of the Black-headed Bushmaster (Lachesis melanocephala) in Costa Rica |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339934718_First_Breeding_of_the_Black-headed_Bushmaster_Lachesis_melanocephala_in_Costa_Rica |journal=Herpetological Review}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *[[Jay M. Savage|Savage JM]] (2002). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas''. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. xx + 945 pp. {{ISBN|0-226-73537-0}}. *[[species:Alejandro Solórzano|Solórzano, Alejandro]]; [[species:Luis Cerdas|Cerdas, Luis]] (1986). "A New Subspecies of the Bushmaster, ''Lachesis muta'', from Southeastern Costa Rica". ''Journal of Herpetology'' '''20''' (3): 463–466. (''Lachesis muta melanocephala'', new subspecies).

[[Category:Lachesis (genus)|melanocephala]] [[Category:Snakes of Central America]] [[Category:Reptiles of Costa Rica]] [[Category:Reptiles of Panama]] [[Category:Reptiles described in 1986]]