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respected sir,

1. i want to know whether bothrops is now known as according to the new TAXONOMY - BOTHRIECHIS

2. how many snakes in bothrops are known as Fer De Lance?

3. Which is the most poisonous variety of bothrops?

4. What is the difference between cobras, rattlesnakes, elaps and bothrops in their behaviour?

5. How do i classify all the snakes in bothrops family?

please help me as i am doing a research paper.

Dr. Farokh J Master M.D. (Hom)

>>respected sir,
>>
>>1. i want to know whether bothrops is now known as according to the new TAXONOMY - BOTHRIECHIS

Some species that were assigned to Bothrops until the 1980s are now in the genus Bothriechis - e.g., Bothriechis schlegelii.

The species you mentioned earlier (B. atrox, B. alternatus, B. lanceolatus) are all still in Bothrops.

>>
>>2. how many snakes in bothrops are known as Fer De Lance?

Atrictly speaking only one, B. lanceolatus.

However, some other species, especially B. asper and B. atrox, are also often called fer-de-lance. Common names really are not all that informative for these animals.

>>
>>3. Which is the most poisonous variety of bothrops?

Depends what you mean, and to whom or what.

The one you least want to get bitten by are probably B. jararacussu and B. asper. If you have no antivenom, B. lanceolatus would be top of the list (nice thromboses that can leave you a drooling vegetable from cerebrovascular infarction), but bites treated with antivenom are usually not that bad.

As fas as mouse LD50 is concerned, not sure - among the Brazilian species, B. jararaca comes out tops. On the other hand, B. insularis is more toxic to birds.

>>4. What is the difference between cobras, rattlesnakes, elaps and bothrops in their behaviour?

Errrmmmm.... where do I start? And what do you mean by elaps? You need to be more specific in your question.

>>5. How do i classify all the snakes in bothrops family?

There is no Bothrops family, only a genus Bothrops. You can get a listing from the EMBL reptile database (link below). Bear in mind that the species they classify as Bothriopsis would be classified as Bothrops by many others.

You can also download several relevant papers on this from my website:
http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/Publications.htm

>>please help me as i am doing a research paper.

Happy to help more if you need further background information. However, without prejudging what you are trying to do in any way, I would also respectfully suggest that your research paper should primarily focus on aspects of the biology of these snakes that you yourself are familiar with.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Wuster
EMBL Reptile database

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