Trimeresurus albolabris

{{Short description|Species of snake}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Speciesbox | image = Trimeresurus albolabris male.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Stuart, B. |author2=Thy, N. |author3=Nguyen, T.Q. |author4=Auliya, M. |year=2012 |title=''Cryptelytrops albolabris'' |volume=2012 |article-number=e.T178433A1534017 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T178433A1534017.en |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Trimeresurus | species = albolabris | authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1842 | synonyms = *''Trimesurus albolabris'' Gray, 1842 *''T''[''rimeresurus'']. ''albolabris'' – [[William Theobald|Theobald]], 1879 *''Trimeresurus gramineus albolabris'' – Mell, 1922 *''Trimeresurus albolabris'' – [[Clifford H. Pope|Pope]] & [[Sarah H. Pope|Pope]], 1933 *''Trimeresurus albolabris albolabris'' – [[Urs Regenass|Regenass]] & [[Eugen Kramer|Kramer]], 1981<ref name="McD99">McDiarmid RW, [[Jonathan A. Campbell|Campbell JA]], Touré T. 1999. ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> *''Cryptelytrops albolabris'' – [[Anita Malhotra|Malhotra]] & [[Roger S. Thorpe|Thorpe]], 2004 *''Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) albolabris'' – [[Patrick David|David]] ''et al.'', 2011<ref name="RDB">{{NRDB species |genus=Trimeresurus |species=albolabris }}</ref> | range_map = Distribución Trimeresurus albolabris2.png }}

'''''Trimeresurus albolabris''''', the '''white-lipped pit viper''' or '''white-lipped tree viper''', is a [[venomous snake|venomous]] [[pit viper]] [[species]] endemic to [[Southeast Asia]].

==Taxonomy== Giannasi ''et al.'' (2001) raised ''[[Trimeresurus insularis|insularis]]'' and ''[[Trimeresurus septentrionalis|septentrionalis]]'' to species level.<ref name=Gum04/><ref name=Gia01>{{cite journal |last1=Giannasi |first1=Nicholas |last2=Thorpe |first2=Roger S. |last3=Malhotra |first3=Anita |title=The use of amplified fragment length polymorphism in determining species trees at fine taxonomic levels: analysis of a medically important snake, ''Trimeresurus albolabris'' |journal=Molecular Ecology |date=2001 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=419–426 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-294x.2001.01220.x |pmid=11298956|bibcode=2001MolEc..10..419G |s2cid=18069035 }}</ref> Malhotra & Thorpe (2004) transferred this species (and a number of others) to the [[genus]] ''Cryptelytrops''.<ref name=Mal01>{{cite journal |last1=Malhotra|first1=Anita|last2=Thorpe|first2=Roger S.|title=A phylogeny of four mitochondrial gene regions suggests a revised taxonomy for Asian pitvipers (''Trimeresurus'' and ''Ovophis'')|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |year=2004 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=83–100 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.02.008|pmid=15186799|bibcode=2004MolPE..32...83M |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> David ''et al.'' (2011) returned it to the genus ''Trimeresurus'' and assigned it the [[subgenus]] ''Trimeresurus'', creating the new combination ''Trimeresurus (Trimeresurus) albolabris''.<ref name="RDB"/>

Common names include green tree pit viper, white-lipped pit viper,<ref name=Gum04>Gumprecht A, Tillack F, [[Nikolai Liutsianovich Orlov|Orlov NL]], [[Ashok Captain|Captain A]], Ryabov S. 2004. ''Asian Pitvipers''. GeitjeBooks Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. {{ISBN|3-937975-00-4}}.</ref> white-lipped tree viper, white-lipped green pit viper and white-lipped bamboo pit viper.<ref name="USN91">U.S. Navy. 1991. ''Poisonous Snakes of the World''. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. {{ISBN|0-486-26629-X}}.</ref>

==Description== Maximum total length males {{convert|600|mm|in|abbr=on}}, females {{convert|810|mm|in|abbr=on}}; maximum tail length males {{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}}, females {{convert|130|mm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Lev03>{{cite journal |last1=Leviton |first1=A.E. |last2=Wogan |first2=G.O.U. |last3=Koo |first3=M.S. |last4=Zug |first4=G.R. |last5=Lucas |first5=R.S. |last6=Vindum |first6=J.V. |name-list-style=amp |title=The dangerously venomous snakes of Myanmar. Illustrated checklist with keys |journal=Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences |year=2003 |volume=54 |issue=24 |pages=407–462 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/4542/VZ_Leviton_al2003-dangVen.pdf |access-date=28 November 2021 |archive-date=30 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830183051/http://www.nmnh.si.edu/vert/reptiles/Publications/levitonal2003-dangven.pdf }}</ref>

<gallery> Image:Trimeresurus albolabris (adult, male).jpg|''T. albolabris'', White-lipped pit viper (adult, male) – Kaeng Krachan National Park Image:Trimeresurus albolabris (adult, female).jpg|''T. albolabris'', White-lipped pit viper (adult, female) – Kaeng Krachan National Park Image:Trimeresurus-albolabris-white-lipped-pit-viper-juvenile-male-kaeng-krachan-national-park.jpg|''T. albolabris'' (juvenile/male) – Kaeng Krachan National Park Image:Trimeresurus-albolabris-white-lipped-pit-viper-juvenile-female-kaeng-krachan-national-park.jpg|''T. albolabris'' (juvenile/female) – Kaeng Krachan National Park Image:White-lipped Pitviper.jpg|''T. albolabris'' at the [[Houston Zoo]] </gallery>

Head scalation consists of 10–11(12) [[upper labials]], the first partially or completely fused to the nasal. Head scales small, subequal, feebly imbricate, smooth or weakly keeled. The [[supraoculars]] are narrow (occasionally enlarged and undivided) with 8–12 interocular scales between them. Temporal scales smooth.<ref name=Lev03/>

Midbody has 29 (rarely 19) longitudinal dorsal scale rows. The ventral scales are 155–166 in males, 152–176 in females. The subcaudals are paired, 60–72 in males, 49–66 in females. The [[Hemipenis|hemipenes]] are without spines.<ref name="Lev03"/>

Color pattern: green above, the side of the head below the eyes is yellow, white or pale green, much lighter than rest of head. The belly is green, yellowish or white below. A light ventrolateral stripe is present in all males, but absent in females. The end of tail is not mottled brown.<ref name=Lev03/>

==Distribution and habitat== Found in [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], [[Myanmar]], [[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], [[Vietnam]], southern [[China]] ([[Fujian]], [[Hainan]], [[Guangxi]], [[Guangdong]]), [[Hong Kong]], [[Macau]], [[Indonesia]] ([[Sumatra]], [[Java]], [[Lombok]], [[Sumbawa]], [[Komodo (island)|Komodo]], [[Flores]], [[Sumba]], [[Rote Island|Roti]], [[Kisar]], [[Wetar]]). The [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] given is "China".<ref name=McD99/>

The species is not found in India. Specimens from India have been recently re-identified as [[Trimeresurus salazar]] (Vogel et al. 2022). Specimens from the Nicobar islands have been described as [[Trimeresurus davidi]], a new species.

==Diet== Its meals consist of birds, small frogs, and small [[mammal]]s. This snake doesn't strike and release its prey; like many arboreal snakes, rather holds on to the prey item until it dies.

==Venom== The venom is primarily hemotoxic. Results of bites from this species range from mild envenoming to death. The venom of white-lipped pitviper contains [[procoagulant]] properties. There have been numerous reported bites with few fatalities.<ref>O'Shea M. ''Venomous Snakes of the World'', p. 107.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *Das I. 1999. ''Biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands'', India. In: Ota, H. (ed) Tropical Island herpetofauna, Elsevier, pp. 43–77. *David P, Vogel V. 2000. "On the occurrence of ''Trimeresurus albolabris''" (Gray 1842) on Sumatra Island, Indonesia (Reptilia, Serpentes, Viperidae, Crotalinae). ''Senckenbergiana Biologica'' '''80''' (1/2): 225–232. *David P, Vogel G, [[:fr:Alain Dubois|Dubois A]]. 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. *Einfalt P. 2002. "''Haltung und Vermehrung von'' Trimeresurus albolabris" ''(Gray 1842)''. ''Elaphe'' '''10''' (4): 31–36. *[[John Edward Gray|Gray, JE]]. 1842. "Synopsis of the species of Rattle-Snakes, or Family of CROTALIDÆ." The Zoological Miscellany '''2''': 47–51. (''Trimeresurus albolabris'', p. 48.) *Gumprecht, A. 2001. "''Die Bambusottern der Gattung'' Trimeresurus ''Lacépède Teil IV: Checkliste der'' Trimeresurus''-Arten Thailands''". ''Sauria'' '''23''' (2): 25–32. *Parkinson CL. 1999. "Molecular systematics and biogeographical history of Pit Vipers as determined by mitochondrial ribosomal DNA sequences". ''Copeia'' '''1999''' (3): 576–586. *{{cite journal |last1=Tu |first1=Ming-Chung |last2=Wang |first2=Hurng-Yi |last3=Tsai |first3=Mung-Pei |last4=Toda |first4=Mamoru |last5=Lee |first5=Wen-Jen |last6=Zhang |first6=Fu-Ji |last7=Ota |first7=Hidetoshi |title=Phylogeny, taxonomy, and biogeography of the oriental pitvipers of the genus ''Trimeresurus'' (Reptilia: Viperidae: Crotalinae): a molecular perspective |journal=Zoological Science |date=2000 |volume=17 |issue=8 |pages=1147–1157 |doi=10.2108/zsj.17.1147 |pmid=18522471|s2cid=207286072 |doi-access=free |hdl=2433/108613 |hdl-access=free }} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category-inline}}

[[Category:Trimeresurus|albolabris]] [[Category:Snakes of Southeast Asia]] [[Category:Reptiles of Cambodia]] [[Category:Snakes of China]] [[Category:Reptiles of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Snakes of Indonesia]] [[Category:Snakes of Malaysia]] [[Category:Snakes of Myanmar]] [[Category:Snakes of Thailand]] [[Category:Snakes of Vietnam]] [[Category:Reptiles described in 1842]] [[Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray]]