Dear Readers,
This fact sheet, like a snake, is about to slough its skin. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is working to bring you an updated version of the Mangshan Pit Viper Fact Sheet with new science and conservation information. Thanks for your patience, as we crawl among the treetops (yes, this pit viper climbs very well) to bring you new facts. Please check back soon. SDZWA team members can email questions to library@sdzwa.org.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia (Laurenti, 1768) - reptiles
Order: Squamata (Oppel, 1811) - amphibians, lizards, snakes, serpents
Family: Viperidae (Oppel, 1811) - pit vipers, vipers
Genus: Protobothrops
Species: Protobothrops mangshanensis (Zhao, 1990; originally described as Trimeresurus mangshanensis)
Source: Zhou (2012)
The evolutionary origins of pit vipers can be traced to Eurasia.
Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.
Campbell & Brodie (1992)
Ernst & Zug (1996)
Gardner & Ciffeli (1999)
Gumprecht & Tillack (2004)
Guo et al. (2007)
Orlov et al. (2009)
McDiarmid et al. (1999)
Parkinson et al. (2002)
Quijada-Mascareñas and Wüster (2009)
Szyndlar & Rage (2002)
Weinstein et al. (2010)
Wuster et al. (2008)
Zhang (1993)
Zhao (1990)