Black-speckled Palm-pitviper Snake

Facts about Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake. "Scientific name for Black-speckled Palm-pitviper is Bothriechis nigroviridis". The Black-speckled Palm-pitviper is a Bothriechis type of poisonous snake that comes from the Viperidae family. The pit viper varieties are largely found in cool, damp, medium and high altitude forests and in the mountains of Panama and Costa Rica, and they are called by other names, such as speckled palm viper, yellow-spotted palm viper and black-spotted palm viper. The Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snakes are not frequently seen, because they not only live up in the trees where they are well concealed among the leaves, but they also comprise a somewhat limited collection and declining populations, owing to human intrusion into their montane woodland homes.

Features of Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake

The Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake is a medium length poisonous snake. When the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snakes obtain the matured stage, they will have a body length of more than 31 inches (78 cm), even though most of the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snakes have length less than 24 inches (60 cm ). They have moderately a slim body and include a prehensile tail. The female snakes are lengthier than the male ones, with a maximum length of 37 inches (93 cm).

Usually, the color pattern of the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake is made up of an emerald green ground color, with powerful black color mottling. There are also light green dorsal marks that have black color borders. The stomach of the snake is yellowish green in color and it is lightly barked with black color. There is a visibly defined postocular line running back towards their jaw angle. The iris of the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snakes is greatly mottled and appears nearly black. They have a black color tongue. The juvenile snakes boast an analogous color pattern, even though it is paler and they have a black color tail tip.

Similar to other family associates, the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake has a wide, wedge-shaped head much broader than the neck, mottled with black color on top, habitually with black color parietal lines. The Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake have big, erect-able fangs in the front part of their mouth that enables ambush killer snakes to inject poison into their predators or prey. The heat-detecting pit organs opposite to their eyes enable them to sense the warm-blooded prey. The Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake is an arboreal pit viper and it is different from other terrestrial pit vipers. It will bite the prey and then grasp onto its stressed prey so that the dying prey does not fall from the tree and either get misplaced or stolen by another killer, prowling on the earth below.

The distinguishing feature of the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper is the existence of two sturdy teeth in the front part of the maxilla, internally pierced by a channel for directing the poison. When the mouth of the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper is closed, the teeth are creased against the top of this. The Black-speckled Palm-pitviper also portrays the existence of an L’Oreal eye size fossil that abodes the thermo-receptor body and situated at a halfway and aligned with the nostril and the eye. The scaling on the body is keeled dorsal skull and neck stands out obviously.

Diet of Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake

The Black-speckled Palm-pitviper mostly feeds on small vertebrates, like lizards and frogs. Occasionally, these snakes feed on small creatures and birds.

The average lifespan of the Black-speckled Palm-pitviper snake ranges from 8 years to 10 years.