Trimeresurus salazar

Species of snake

Trimeresurus salazar

Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Reptilia
Order:  | Squamata
Suborder:  | Serpentes
Family:  | Viperidae
Subfamily:  | Crotalinae
Genus:  | Trimeresurus
Species:  |

T. salazar

Binomial name
Trimeresurus salazar

Mirza et al., 2020

Trimeresurus salazar, also known as Salazar's pit viper, is a species of venomous, green pit viper first discovered in 2019 in the lowlands of the western part of Arunachal Pradesh, India; the fifth new reptile species to be discovered in the region in 2019. It was named after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series. It has a dark green head and yellowish green dorsal scales on the rest of its body. The species is sexually dichromatic; the males have reddish-orange and yellow-orange stripes and a rusty red-orange tail that the females lack. Its habitat is under threat from human development activities.

## Taxonomy and etymology

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This snake was first discovered during a herpetological expedition in the summer of 2019 to the Eastern Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh, India, which is a biodiversity hotspot and has a high degree of landscape heterogeneity with elevation ranging from 100 to 7000 m and distinct climatic regimes.[1][2] The expedition collected two specimens of a green pit viper of the genus Trimeresurus in the lowlands near Pakke Tiger Reserve, which were believed to be either Trimeresurus septentrionalis or Trimeresurus albolabris based upon their coloration and the number of dorsal scale rows. These specimens were later compared with eleven specimens of T. septentrionalis and T. albolabris from the collections of the Bombay Natural History Society, the Natural History Museum, London, National Museum of Natural History in Paris and the University of Copenhagen,[1] and differences were found in the coloration of the lateral stripe on the head and the body in males.[3] Molecular analysis of the genomic DNA confirmed that the specimens were a new species of green pit viper.[4] It became the fifth new reptile species to be discovered in Arunachal Pradesh in 2019.[5] The researchers also found two specimens of the new species in the Natural History Museum of Denmark which had been collected by a Danish naturalist, Bernt Wilhelm Westermann, between 1811 and 1816[6] but were wrongly labeled as white-lipped pit vipers.[7]

This new species of green pit viper, Trimeresurus salazar, was named after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series,[8] with a suggested common name of Salazar's pit viper.[9] In the fictional book and movie series, Slytherin is famous for being a Parselmouth, a person who can communicate with snakes.[10] As such, the house he founded in Hogwarts is represented by a snake, and is also associated with the color green.[1]

## Description

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Salazar's pit viper has a long and thin body with a length reaching 363 to 415 mm,[11] and a triangular, elongated head which is clearly distinct from the neck.[12] These vipers are green but also have yellow, orange, red, or gold markings.[13] Males have a reddish orange stripe running from their preocular scales to the lateral side of the nape, a yellow-orange ventrolateral stripe and a short, bilobed hemipenis.[9] The head is dark green in color which fades to a yellowish green color on its dorsal scales, except for the first dorsal scale row which is yellowish white with a faint orange patch. The tail has rusty red dorsal scales and orange ventral scales. Juveniles are brightly colored with the males having a much more prominent lateral stripe on the head.[14] Females lack both reddish orange head stripe and the yellow-orange ventrolateral stripe.[15] The appearance of T. salazar is different to the T. albolabris, T. septentrionalis, and the T. insularis because of the greater number of pterygoid and dentary teeth, the reddish-orange head stripe in the males and the smaller size of its hemipenis.[16] It has 6 palatine, 15 pterygoid and 19 dentary teeth.[12]

The species has 19 to 21 rows of moderately keeled dorsal scales at mid-body, 163 to 171 ventral scales, 59 to 74 subcaudal scales, 12 to 13 infralabial scales and 10 to 11 supralabial scales with the first supralabial scale being fused with the nasal scale.[12][15]

## Distribution and habitat

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Findings of T. salazar and T. cf. salazar as of 2022: Mirza et al. (light green), Rathee et al. (green), Koirala et al. (gray)

Salazar's pit vipers have been found at an elevation of 172 metres above sea level in the Eastern Himalayas,[17] in the lowlands of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India.[18][19] They are also confirmed to be present in Meghalaya,[20] Mizoram, the slopes of Darjeeling in West Bengal,[21] also has been recorded from Tripura Tripura Choudhury, A., Deb, A., & Purkayastha, J. (2024). First record of Salazar’s Pitviper, Trimeresurus salazar (Mirza, Bhosale, Phansalkar, Sawant, Gowande, and Patel 2020) from Tripura, India. Reptiles & Amphibians, 31(1), e20654. and they are also likely to occur in Bangladesh.[22] The species was later documented near Lumang in the Tashigang Territorial Forest Division in eastern Bhutan[23] and in Jashpur district, Chhattisgarh.[21] They are nocturnal snakes[1] and have been observed coiled on shrubs at night.[15]

Their diversity could be underestimated as the species belonging to the Trimeresurus genus are morphologically cryptic, which makes them difficult to identify in the field, requiring evidence based upon morphological, ecological and molecular data.[3] Their habitat in Arunachal Pradesh is under threat from development activities such as road widening, agriculture and hydroelectric projects,[17] especially the proposed 49 km long Seijosa-Bhalukpong road which cuts right through their habitat,[24] and the proposed Dibang Dam.[7]

## Diet

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The diet of pit vipers in the genus Trimeresurus includes lizards, amphibians, birds, rodents, and other small mammals.[13]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d Kimbrough 2020.
2. ^ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 124.
3. ^ a b Mirza et al. 2020, pp. 123–124.
4. ^ Mirza et al. 2020, pp. 124–125.
5. ^ Karmakar 2020.
6. ^ Rathee et al. 2021, p. 131.
7. ^ a b George 2020.
8. ^ Asmelash 2020.
9. ^ a b Mirza et al. 2020, p. 125.
10. ^ BBC 2020.
11. ^ Chandramouli, Campbell & Vogel 2020, p. 174.
12. ^ a b c Mirza et al. 2020, p. 126.
13. ^ a b de Lazaro 2020.
14. ^ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 127.
15. ^ a b c Mirza et al. 2020, p. 130.
16. ^ Starr 2020.
17. ^ a b Baheerathan 2020.
18. ^ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 123.
19. ^ Mirza et al. 2020, p. 131.
20. ^ Rathee et al. 2021, pp. 131–132.
21. ^ a b Vogel et al. 2022, p. 349.
22. ^ Rathee et al. 2021, p. 136.
23. ^ Koirala et al. 2021, p. 17464.
24. ^ Goswami 2020.

### Sources

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* Asmelash, Leah (22 April 2020). "Scientists discover a new snake and name it after Salazar Slytherin". CNN. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
* Baheerathan, M. (4 May 2020). "Meet Salazar's pit viper – a new snake species named after the parseltongue wizard". Research Matters. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
* BBC (24 Apr 2020). "Harry Potter: Snake named after Salazar Slytherin, legendary character from the book series". BBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
* Chandramouli, S. R.; Campbell, Patrick D.; Vogel, Gernot (1 November 2020). "A new species of green pit viper of the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia: Serpentes: Viperidae) from the Nicobar Archipelago, Indian Ocean" (PDF). Amphibian & Reptile Conservation. 14 (3): 169–176. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
* de Lazaro, Enrico (22 April 2020). "New Species of Pit Viper Discovered in India". Sci-News. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
* George, Matthew T. (31 May 2020). "A viper named Salazar". theweek.in. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
* Goswami, Roopak (16 April 2020). "Pit viper discovered in Arunachal Pradesh". Telegraph India. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
* Karmakar, Rahul (16 April 2020). "New pit viper in Arunachal Pradesh named after Harry Potter character". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
* Kimbrough, Liz (29 April 2020). "One point for Slytherin: New Indian pit viper named after Harry Potter character". Mongabay Environmental News. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
* Koirala, Bal Krishna; Jamtsho, Karma; Wangdi, Phuntsho; Tshering, Dawa; Wangdi, Rinchen; Norbu, Lam; Phuntsho, Sonam; Lhendup, Sonam; Nidup, Tshering (29 January 2021). "Diversity and distribution of snakes in Trashigang Territorial Forest Division, eastern Bhutan". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 13 (1): 17455–17469\. doi:10.11609/jott.6835.13.1.17455-17469.
* Mirza, Zeeshan A.; Bhosale, Harshal S.; Phansalkar, Pushkar U.; Sawant, Mandar; Gowande, Gaurang G.; Patel, Harshil (15 April 2020). "A new species of green pit vipers of the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia, Serpentes, Viperidae) from western Arunachal Pradesh, India". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 96 (1): 123–138\. doi:10.3897/zse.96.48431. ISSN 1860-0743. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
* Rathee, Yashpal Singh; Purkayastha, Jayaditya; Dalal, Siddharth; Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte (13 May 2021). "First record of Salazar's Pitviper (Trimeresurus salazar) from Meghalaya, India, with comments on hemipenes". Reptiles & Amphibians. 28 (1): 131–136\. doi:10.17161/randa.v28i1.15369.
* Starr, Michelle (23 April 2020). "New Species of Slithering Snake Has Been Named For Salazar Slytherin". ScienceAlert. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
* Vogel, Gernot; Mallik, Ashok Kumar; Chandramouli, S. R.; Sharma, Vivek; Ganesh, S. R. (17 August 2022). "A review of records of the Trimeresurus albolabris Gray, 1842 group from the Indian subcontinent: expanded description and range extension of Trimeresurus salazar, redescription of Trimeresurus septentrionalis and rediscovery of historical specimens of Trimeresurus davidi (Reptilia: Viperidae)". Zootaxa. 5175 (3): 343–366\. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5175.3.2. PMID 36095361. S2CID 251631832.

* v
* t
* e

Snakes in the genus Trimeresurus

* Trimeresurus albolabris
* Trimeresurus borneensis
* Trimeresurus brongersmai
* Trimeresurus cantori
* Trimeresurus erythrurus
* Trimeresurus fasciatus
* Trimeresurus flavomaculatus
* Trimeresurus gracilis
* Trimeresurus gramineus
* Trimeresurus hageni
* Trimeresurus kanburiensis
* Trimeresurus karanshahi
* Trimeresurus labialis
* Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus
* Trimeresurus salazar
* Trimeresurus stejnegeri
* Trimeresurus sumatranus
* Trimeresurus tibetanus
* Trimeresurus trigonocephalus

Taxon identifiers

Trimeresurus salazar|

* Wikidata: Q90903062
* Wikispecies: Trimeresurus salazar
* CoL: 8GQFX
* GBIF: 10877666
* iNaturalist: 1129098
* NCBI: 2666259
* Plazi: 67EA7A54-D039-5392-A9A7-CDD5D1EED0C0
* RD: salazar
* ZooBank: 6C165D3E-D3F2-43CA-A62E-E753E6B7FC22

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