Porthidium

{{Short description|Genus of snakes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Porthidium nasutum (La Selva Biological Station).jpg | image_caption = ''[[Porthidium nasutum]]'', rainforest hognose pitviper | taxon = Porthidium | authority = [[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1871<ref name="McD99">[[:fr: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, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> }}

:'''''Common names''': hognose pit vipers<ref name="C&L04">Campbell JA, [[species:William W. Lamar|Lamar WW]] (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere'' Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1500 plates. {{ISBN|0-8014-4141-2}}.</ref>''

'''''Porthidium''''' is a [[genus]] of [[Pit viper|pit vipers]] found in [[Mexico]] and southward to northern [[South America]].<ref name="McD99"/> The name is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''portheo'' and the suffix ''-idus'', which mean "destroy" and "having the nature of", apparently a reference to the venom.<ref name="C&L04"/> As of January 2026 nine [[species]] are recognized as being valid.<ref name=":0">Carlos Patron-Rivero, Carlos Yañez-Arenas, Sara Ruane, Xavier Chiappa-Carrara, Octavio R Rojas-Soto, A comprehensive morphological database of hognose ''Porthidium'' pitvipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae), ''Database'', Volume 2026, 2026, baaf085, <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1093/database/baaf085</nowiki></ref><ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=585667 |taxon=''Porthidium '' |accessdate=4 November 2006}}</ref> The snakes of the genus ''[[Hypnale]]'' in southern [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]] look quite similar to those of this genus, possibly an example of [[convergent evolution]].

==Description== ''Porthidium'' is a genus of small [[species]], adults ranging in total length (including tail) from {{convert|55|cm|in|abbr=on}} (''[[Porthidium dunni|P. dunni]]'' and ''[[Porthidium yucatanicum|P. yucatanicum]]'') to {{convert|75|cm|in|abbr=on}} (''[[Porthidium lansbergii|P. lansbergii]]'' and ''[[Porthidium ophryomegas|P. ophryomegas]]''). In addition, the body shape ranges from relatively slender (''P. ophryomegas'') to relatively stout (''[[Porthidium nasutum|P. nasutum]]''). All have a sharply defined ''[[Canthus (snake)|canthus rostralis]]'' and a [[rostral scale]] that is higher than it is broad. The tip of the snout may be slightly to moderately elevated (''[[Porthidium hespere|P. hespere]]'', ''P. lansbergii'', ''P. ophryomegas'' and ''[[Porthidium volcanicum|P. volcanicum]]''), strongly elevated (''P. dunni'' and ''P. yucatanicum''), or not elevated at all.<ref name="C&L04"/> All species have a color pattern that usually consists of a brown or gray ground color, overlaid with a series of dark [[Paraventral scales|paraventral]] blotches that are separated by a pale and narrow vertebral stripe. The blotches are square, rectangular, or triangular in shape. In some species, the color pattern is determined by the sex.<ref name="C&L04"/>

==Geographic range== Found in [[Mexico]] ([[Colima]], [[Oaxaca]] and [[Chiapas]] on the Pacific side, the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] on the Atlantic side) southward through [[Central America]] to northern [[South America]] ([[Ecuador]] in the Pacific lowlands, northern [[Venezuela]] in the Atlantic lowlands).<ref name="McD99"/>

==Species== {|cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse;" !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Species<ref name=":0" /><ref name="ITIS"/><ref name="RDB">{{EMBL genus|genus=Porthidium}} www.reptile-database.org.</ref> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Taxon author<ref name="ITIS"/><ref name="RDB"/> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Subsp.*<ref name="ITIS"/><ref name="RDB"/> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Common name<ref name="C&L04"/><ref name="RDB"/> !bgcolor="#f0f0f0"|Geographic range<ref name="McD99"/><ref name="RDB"/> |- |''[[Porthidium arcosae|P. arcosae]]'' |[[Beat Schätti|Schätti]] & [[species:Eugen Kramer|Kramer]], 1993 |align="center"|0 |Manabi hognose pit viper |Coast of [[Ecuador]] |- |''[[Porthidium dunni|P. dunni]]'' |([[Norman Edouard Hartweg|Hartweg]] & [[James Arthur Oliver|Oliver]], 1938) |align="center"|0 |Dunn's hognose pit viper |style="width:40%"|Southern [[Mexico]] in the Pacific lowlands of [[Oaxaca]] and western [[Chiapas]]. |- |''[[Porthidium hespere|P. hespere]]'' |([[Jonathan A. Campbell|Campbell]], 1976) |align="center"|0 |Colima hognose pit viper |Western Mexico ([[Colima]]). |- |''[[Porthidium lansbergii|P. lansbergii]]'' |([[Hermann Schlegel|Schlegel]], 1841) |align="center"|2 |Lansberg's hognose pit viper |Extreme eastern [[Central America]] in the xeric coastal lowlands of central and eastern [[Panama]]. In northern [[South America]] in the Atlantic lowlands of [[Colombia]] and northern [[Venezuela]], as well as the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador. |- |''[[Porthidium nasutum|P. nasutum]]''T |([[Marie Firmin Bocourt|Bocourt]], 1868) |align="center"|0 |rainforest hognose pit viper |Southern Mexico southward through Central America to western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador in South America. Inhabits the Atlantic lowlands from Mexico ([[Tabasco]] and Chiapas) through [[Belize]], [[Guatemala]], [[Honduras]], [[Nicaragua]] and [[Costa Rica]] to eastern Panama and northwestern Colombia. In the Pacific lowlands, it occurs in southwestern [[Costa Rica]], central and eastern Panama, continuing on to northwestern Ecuador. It is found in mesic lowland broadleaf or rainforest from sea level to elevation of about 900 m. |- |''[[Porthidium ophryomegas|P. ophryomegas]]'' |([[Marie Firmin Bocourt|Bocourt]], 1868) |align="center"|0 |slender hognose pit viper |Central America in Guatemala, [[El Salvador]], Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. |- |''[[Porthidium porrasi|P. porrasi]]'' |[[species:William W. Lamar|Lamar]], 2003 |align="center"|0 |''Weißschwanz-Stülpnasenotter'' |Southwestern Costa Rica |- |''[[Porthidium volcanicum|P. volcanicum]]'' |[[species:Alejandro Solórzano|Solórzano]], 1994 |align="center"|0 |Ujarran hognose pit viper |Volcán de Buenos Aires and Valle del General in [[Puntarenas Province]], Costa Rica. |- |''[[Porthidium yucatanicum|P. yucatanicum]]'' |([[Hobart M. Smith|H.M. Smith]], 1941) |align="center"|0 |Yucatán hognose pit viper |Northern half of the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] in Mexico. |- |} ''*) Not including the [[nominate subspecies]].'' T) [[Type species]].<ref name="McD99"/>

''[[Nota bene]]'': A [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial authority]] in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Porthidium''.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope ED]] (1871). "Ninth Contribution to the Herpetology of Tropical America". ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' '''23''' (2): 200–224. (''Porthidium'', new genus, p. 207).

[[Category:Porthidium| ]] [[Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope]]