>>are b. taeniatus still bothrops or are they now bothriopsis?



That is basically a matter of opinion and personal choice. In terms of phylogeny, the evidence is very clear: the species of "Bothriopsis" (i.e., bilineatus, taeniatus, pulcher and a couple of others) are very much rooted within Bothrops. In other words, a B. atrox is more closely related to B. taeniatus than to B. alternatus.



My view is that this state of affairs is best reflected by regarding Bothriopsis as a part of Bothrops, i.e., call it Bothrops taeniatus



Others argue that since the arboreal Bothriopsis is fairly distinctive, it should be recognised as a separate genus, and Bothrops should be split further into smaller genera. This implies future descriptions of new genera for the altnernatus group, for the jararaca-neuwiedi group, for B. pictus, possbibly for B. venezuelensis, and possibly some more once some of the more obscure specis are brought into the equation.



Personally, I prefer to keep Bothrops, including taeniatus and bilineatus etc., as a single genus - they represent a relatively recent adaptive radiation following the colonisation of South America by the common ancestor of the all. Yes, they are more diverse in terms of species numbers, morphology and natural history than other New World pitviper genera, but there are good historical reasons for that.



Time will tell which view prevails.



> How much is known about their venom? I know they have HUGE fangs, but haven't really heard much about them.



Not an awful lot. There has been one study that compared various activities of Ecuadorian Bothrops but I don't have it at hand. I heard of one bite sustained in ecuador, by a huge specimen, in which the victim nearly died and had to have a leg amputated. I would certainly rate it on a par with B. atrox.





> I may have an opportunity to acquire a few, so I'm just curious (not that I plan on being bitten of course).



The thing to watch out for is how deceptively long this species can be. It is easy to use a 20" cage hook to hook out what looks like a tiny little ball of a coiled up snake from the corner of a cage, only to realise when it uncoils and heads up the stick in your direction that it is actually 3.5 ft long, and that you are well within range.



> AND, is Costa Rican Poly the av of choice for this particular snake?



Not really known. It would certainly be worth trying, but a selection of other antivenoms, such as Butantan (Brazil) or the anti-Bothrops antivenom produced by Instituto Nacional de Salud in Bogota, Colombia, may offer broader protection. Having a few vials of each may be your best policy, in case one or the other fails altogether against this species.



Cheers,



Wolfgang
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