Porthidium lansbergii is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is native to eastern Central America and northwestern South America. Four subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

Etymology

The specific name, lansbergii, is in honor of "M[onsieur]. de Lansberge" (Reinhart Frans von Lansberge), Dutch consul at Caracas, Venezuela, in 1841.

Description

Adults of P. lansbergii average 30 – in total length (including tail), with a maximum of 90 cm. A terrestrial snake, it is moderately slender.

Common names

Common names for P. lansbergii include Lansberge's hog-nosed pit-viper. It is also called patoca in Colombia and Panama.

Geographic range

P. lansbergii is found in extreme eastern Central America in the xeric coastal lowlands of central and eastern Panama, in northern South America in the Atlantic lowlands of Colombia and northern Venezuela, as well as in the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador. The type locality given is "les environs de Turbaco [Department de Bolívar], en Colombie ". According to Amaral (1929), the holotype is likely from Tumaco. According to the range map provided by Campbell & Lamar (2004), the subspecies P. l. rozei and P. l. lansbergii intergrade in the northern part of the Guajira Peninsula.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of P. lansbergii is forest, from sea level to 1,270 m.

Subspecies

Nota bene: A trinomial authority (taxon author) in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Porthidium.

Taxonomy

Campbell & Lamar (2004) consider P. l. arcosae a full species.

Reproduction

P. lansbergii is viviparous.