Bothrops lanceolatus

Bothrops lanceolatus — known as the fer-de-lance, Martinican pit viper,[2] and Martinique lancehead[3] — is a species of pit viper generally considered endemic to the island of Martinique. No one has satisfactorily explained why it has flourished there but is unknown on nearly all other Caribbean islands. Some reserve the common name fer-de-lance for this species, while others apply that name to other Bothrops species as well. No subspecies are currently recognized.[4]

Bothrops lanceolatus
Taxidermied museum exhibit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Bothrops
Species:
B. lanceolatus
Binomial name
Bothrops lanceolatus
(Bonnaterre, 1790)
Synonyms
  • Vipera Caerulescens
    Laurenti, 1768
  • [Coluber] glaucus Gmelin, 1788
  • C[oluber]. Lanceolatus
    Lacépède, 1789
  • C[oluber]. Brasiliensis
    Lacépède, 1789
  • C[oluber]. Tigrinus
    Lacépède, 1789
  • C[oluber]. lanceolatus
    – Bonaterre, 1790
  • C[oluber]. hastatus
    Suckow, 1798
  • Vipera lanceolata – Latreille
    In Sonnini & Latreille, 1801
  • Vipera brasiliniana Latreille
    In Sonnini & Latreille, 1801
  • Coluber Megaera Shaw, 1802
  • Vipera tigrina – Daudin, 1803
  • Vipera brasiliana Daudin, 1803
  • Trigonocephalus lanceolatus – Oppel, 1811
  • [Trigonocephalus] tigrinus
    – Oppel, 1811
  • [Cophias] lanceolatus
    – Merrem, 1820
  • Trigonoceph[alus]. lanceolatus – Schinz, 1822
  • Craspedocephalus lanceolatus – Fitzinger, 1826
  • [Bothrops] lanceolatus
    – Wagler, 1830
  • T[rigonocephalus]. lanceolatus – Schlegel, 1837
  • Bothrops cenereus Gray, 1842
  • C[rasedocephalus]. brasiliensis – Wucherer, 1863
  • Bothrops brasiliensis
    – Cope, 1875
  • Bothrops glaucus
    – Vaillant, 1887
  • Lachesis lanceolatus
    – Boulenger, 1896
  • Lachesis lanceolata
    – Boettger, 1898
  • Bothrops lanceolata
    – Hoge, 1953
  • Vipera coerulescens
    Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1981
  • Bothrops l[anceolatus]. lanceolatus
    – Sandner-Montilla, 1990
  • Bothrops lanceolatus
    – Golay et al., 1993
  • Vipera coerulescens
    – Golay et al., 1993[1]

Geographic range

Bothrops lanceolatus is generally considered endemic to the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles. However, the British Museum of Natural History has two specimens from Guadeloupe. The type locality according to Bonnaterre (1790:11) is "La Martinique".<ref name="McD99"/

Description

It measures 1.50 to 2 m long (5 feet long). Its color is brown, black and gray.

Behavior

As ambush predators, Martinique lancehead typically wait patiently somewhere for unsuspecting prey to wander by. At least one species, the arboreal is known to select a specific ambush site and return to it every year in time for the spring migration of birds. Studies have indicated these snakes learn to improve their strike accuracy over time.[10] At daytime or nightime they could be aggressive.

Diet

All of the various species are carnivorous, and eat other animals. Their diet primarily changes based on how large the snake is and where the snake lives. Larger individuals can feed on larger prey, while smaller species must eat smaller foodstuffs.

Martinican pit vipers hunts include rats, mice, birds, rabbits, lizards, frogs, snakes, bats, and more.

Reproduction

With few exceptions, crotalines are ovoviviparous, meaning that the embryos develop within eggs that remain inside the mother's body until the offspring are ready to hatch, at which time the hatchlings emerge as functionally free-living young. In such species the eggshells are reduced to soft membranes that the young shed, either within the reproductive tract, or immediately after emerging.

Venom

The venom has toxins that can cause clotting, and bleeding in humans, as well as muscle damage and swelling.

Taxonomy

Martinican pit vipers are part of a subfamily of the Viperidae and the Bothrops.

Vexillological trivia

The species is depicted on the unofficial flag of Martinique, one of the few examples (the Gadsden flag and the First Navy Jack of the United States, and the Flag of Mexico being others) of snakes being depicted on flags.

References
  1. McDiarmid RW, 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).
  2. Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN 0-398-02808-7.
  3. Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.
  4. "Bothrops lanceolatus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 3 November 2006.

Further reading
  • Bonnaterre, J. 1790. Tableau encyclopédique et methodique des trois règnes de la nature, Ophiologie. Panckoucke. Paris. xliv + 76 pp. + plates A., 1.- 42. ("C[oluber]. Lanceolatus", p. 10.)
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