A slender green arboreal pit viper of Southeast Asian rainforests, named for the American herpetologist Clifford H. Pope.
Description
Pope’s pit viper is a slim arboreal pit viper around 80 cm, with leaf-green dorsal scales, a pale yellow or white lateral stripe, and a prehensile reddish tail. Males have a vivid red-and-white lateral line; females are more uniformly green with subtle pattern variation.
Behavior
Almost entirely nocturnal and arboreal, Pope’s pit viper coils on low branches and bamboo waiting for frogs and lizards to come within striking distance. Heat-sensing pits help locate warm-blooded prey at night. The mildly hemotoxic venom causes painful local swelling but rarely systemic complications.
Range
Found in moist forests across South and Southeast Asia, from eastern India and Myanmar to Indonesia. Several closely related green pit vipers have been confused with this species over the past century, and revisions continue.
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