Thursday, May 20, 2021

[Herpetology • 2021] Trimeresurus kuiburi งูหางแห้มกุย • A New Karst-dwelling, Colorful Pitviper (Viperidae: Trimeresurus) from northern Peninsular Thailand


 Trimeresurus kuiburi 
Sumontha, Suntrarachun, Pauwels, Pawangkhanant, Chomngam, Iamwiriyakul & Chanhome, 2021

งูหางแห้มกุย | Kui Buri Pitviper || DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4974.2.4
 Photograph by M. Sumontha.  facebook.com/MontriSumontha

 
Abstract
We describe a colorful and distinctively patterned, karst-dwelling pitviper, Trimeresurus kuiburi sp. nov., from the isolated, coastal massif of Khao Sam Roi Yot in Kui Buri District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, in northern Peninsular Thailand. The new species, member of the ‘Cryptelytrops group’ sensu Malhotra & Thorpe (2004) and morphologically and genetically allied to Trimeresurus kanburiensis and T. venustus, differs from all pitviper taxa by a combination of red/purple bands on a green dorsum; a white concave suborbital stripe in males (straight and less visible in females); white, spaced vertebral dots in males (absent in females); pale green belly lacking dark dots or stripe on the lateral sides of the ventrals; partially fused first supralabial and nasal scale; 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody; 164–171 ventrals; 63–65 subcaudals in males, 51–53 in females; maximal known SVL of 451 mm; and long, papillose hemipenes.

Keywords: 
Reptilia, Thai-Malay Peninsula, Gulf of Thailand, Trimeresurus kuiburi sp. nov., taxonomy, limestone


Live adult male holotype of  Trimeresurus kuiburi sp. nov.
 Photograph by M. Sumontha.

Trimeresurus kuiburi sp. nov.
Trimeresurus sp. — Sumontha et al. 2017a: 561.

Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, invariable, in reference to the administrative district Kui Buri in which the type-locality lies. 
We suggest the following common names: งูหางแห้มกุย (Ngu Hang Ham Kui, Thai), Kui Buri Pitviper (English), Trimérésure de Kui Buri (French), and Kui Buri Bambusotter (German).


Montri Sumontha, Sunutcha Suntrarachun, Olivier S. G. Pauwels, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Nirut Chomngam, Prapanth Iamwiriyakul and Lawan Chanhome. 2021. A New Karst-dwelling, Colorful Pitviper (Viperidae: Trimeresurus) from northern Peninsular Thailand. Zootaxa. 4974(1); 307–332. DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4974.2.4