Chinese Green Tree Viper

Etymology

The specific name, stejnegeri, is in honor of Leonhard Stejneger, the Norwegian-born, American herpetologist who worked at the Smithsonian Institution for over 60 years.

Description

Trimeresurus stejnegeri grows to a maximum total length of 75 centimetres (30 in), which includes a tail length of 14.5 centimetres (5.7 in). The males have hemipenes that are short and spinose beyond the bifurcation.

The dorsal scales are arranged in 21 longitudinal rows at midbody. There are 9-11 upper labials, of which the first are separated from nasal scales by a distinct suture. The supraoculars are single, narrow, and sometimes divided by a transverse suture. There are 11-16 scales in a line between the supraoculars. The ventrals number 150-174, and the subcaudals are 54-77. All of the subcaudals are paired.

The color pattern is bright to dark green above, pale green to whitish below, the two separated by a bright bicolored orange or brown (below) and white (above) (males) or bicolored or white only (females) ventrolateral stripe, which occupies the whole of the outermost scale row and a portion of the second row.

Common names

Common names for T. stejnegeri include bamboo viper, Chinese tree viper, bamboo snake, Chinese green tree viper, Chinese bamboo viper, Stejneger's pit viper, Stejneger's palm viper, red tail snake, Stejneger's bamboo pitviper, Formosan bamboo viper (for T. gramineus formosensis), and Taiwan green tree viper (for T. s. formosensis).

Geographic range

Trimeresurus stejnegeri is found in Assam (India) and Nepal through Burma, Thailand and Laos to China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Yunnan) and Taiwan. Leviton et al. (2003) also mention Vietnam. The type locality was originally listed as "Shaowu, Fukien Province, China", and later emended to "N.W. Fukien Province" by Pope & Pope (1933) (Fukien being the former romanization of Fujian). It is also found in Andaman Nicobar of India.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of T. stejnegeri is forest, at altitudes from sea level to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

Venom

Trimeresurus stejnegeri has a potent hemotoxin. The wound usually feels extremely painful, as if it had been branded with a hot iron, and the pain does not subside until about 24 hours after being bitten. Within a few minutes of being bitten, the surrounding flesh dies and turns black, highlighting the puncture wounds. The wound site quickly swells, and the skin and muscle become black due to necrosis. The size of the necrotic area depends on the amount of venom injected and the depth of the bite.