Lachesis melanocephala

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Viperoidea

Familia: Viperidae
Subfamilia: Crotalinae
Genus: Lachesis
Species: Lachesis melanocephala
Name

Lachesis melanocephala Solórzano & Cerdas, 1986)

Holotype: MICP 301, adult ♂, collected by A. Solórzano & L. Cerdas on 31 May 1984.

Type locality: “9 km northern of Ciudad Neily in southeastern Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica”.
Combinations

Lachesis muta melanocephala Solórzano & Cerdas, 1986: 463 [original combination, as subspecies]
Lachesis melanocephala — Zamudio & Greene, 1997: 436 [subsequent combination, elevate to species]

References
Primary references

Solórzano, A. & Cerdas, L. 1986. A new subspecies of the bushmaster, Lachesis muta, from Southeastern Costa Rica. Journal of Herpetology 20(3): 463–466. DOI: 10.2307/1564518 Reference page.
Zamudio, K.R. & Greene, H.W. 1997. Phylogeography of the bushmaster (Lachesis muta: Viperidae): implications for neotropical biogeography, systematics, and conservation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 62(3): 421–442. DOI: 10.1006/bijl.1997.0162 Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2021. Lachesis melanocephala. The Reptile Database. Accessed on 5 January 2018.

Vernacular names
English: Black-headed Bushmaster

Lachesis melanocephala is a venomous pit viper species found in Costa Rica. No subspecies are currently recognized.[3][4]

Description

Adults frequently grow to 1.9–2 m (6.2–6.6 ft) in total length. The largest reported specimens were 2.3 m (7.5 ft) by Solórzano (2004), and 2.4 m (7.9 ft) by Ripa (2001).

The top of the head is uniform black in color,[2] to which the specific name, melanocephala, refers.
Geographic range

Found in Costa Rica on the Pacific versant of southeastern Puntarenas province from near sea level to about 1500 m (about 4,900 feet). The type locality given is "tropical rainforest 9 km northern of Ciudad Neily in southeastern Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica."[1]

Campbell and 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.[2]

References

McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. 2 volumes. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
Lachesis melanocephala at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 19 March 2015.

"Lachesis melanocephala". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 August 2008.