NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 20T 



BOTHRIECHIS, Peters. 



Monatsber. K. Preuss. Academie, 1859, 378. Cope, Pr. A. N. Sci., Phil., 

 1859, 345. Thamnocenchris, Salvin. 



This genus is, like tlie last, coufiued to the great forests of Cen- 

 tral America and the northwest of South America. Species have 

 been found further north than those of Teleuraspis. Like the 

 latter, they inhabit trees, filling the place in America of the species 

 of the East Indies which belong to the Trigonocephali^ and of 

 the tree-vipers of West Africa, Atheris, Cope. All the species 

 of these different groups are of green colors, in contradistinction 

 to those of terrestrial habits, which are of various shades of brown. 

 This is evidently related to their convenience in the struggle for 

 existence in the localities in question. 



Bothriechis nigroviridis, Peters, 1. c. Cope, L c. 



Costa Rica. A specimen from Dr. Yan Patten's collection is 

 peculiar in" having the nasal shield to reach the labial border in 

 front of the labials, and the superciliary shield transversely di- 

 vided. In all other respects it agrees with Peters' description and 

 figures. 



Bothriechis lateralis, Peters. Monatsb. Preuss. Acad., 1862, 674. Botkrops hilin- 

 eatus, Pet. 1. c, 1S59, 278. ? Buthrops hicolor, Bocoiirt, Ann. des Sci. Nat., 1868, 

 p. 201. 



Costa Rica. 



Bothriechis aurifer, Salvin (r/ta»i?ioce?jc/i?-w). Proc. Zool. Soc, 1860, 459. Tab. 

 pulcherrima I 



Coban, Yera Paz. 



POKTHIDIUM, Cope. 



This genus is proposed to accommodate the Bothrops lanshergii 

 and related species, which display characters intermediate in some 

 respects between the last genus and Bothriopsis. 



Scales in 23 rows. Rostral plate narrow, high ; two or three scuta above 

 canthus rostralis ; superciliary wide. Body compressed. Dark brown 

 crossbars alternating on sides. P. lansbergii. 



Rostral higher ; scales of vertex more elongate in front. P. nasutus. 



Porthidium lansbergii, Schlegel, Magazine de Zoologie, 1841. Tab. 



Tropical America. 

 Porthidium nasutum, Bocourt, Ann. Sci. Nat., 1868, p. 202 {Bothrops). 



Guatemala. 

 1871.] 



