Wilson's Montane Pitviper

About the Wilson's Montane Pitviper

Cerrophidion wilsoni, the Honduras montane pitviper, is a species of venomous snake in the family Viperidae. It is endemic to Central America, where it is found in Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. It is widespread in highland cloud forests within its range, being found at elevations of 1,400 to 3,491 m (4,593 to 11,453 ft). The pitviper has a coffee-brown body color, with dark to chestnut brown splotches on the back, frequently fused to make a zig-zagging stripe. The sides have a series of blackish-brown, nearly round splotches, while the side of the head has a blackish-brown stripe from the eye to past the jaw, occasionally merging with the first of the dark patches on the sides. The underside is pale.

Specimens of Cerrophidion wilsoni were formerly considered to belong to C. godmani, which was then considered to be a wide-ranging species distributed from Mexico south to Panama. Beginning in the 2000s, genetic evidence began suggesting that C. godmani as then defined was paraphyletic with regard to the other two species in its genus, with deep divergences between different clades included in the species.

Cerrophidion wilsoni was formally described in 2012 based... Wikipedia →