South America and the West Indies 



fewer posteriorly. Ventrals 15r)-169 ; subcaiulals 22-31. 



Diatrihiitioii: FouucI only on the island of Aruba, in 

 the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela. 



Remarks: This is a dwarfed and li>;ht-colored rela- 

 tive of the cascabel iCrotaliis duriKsiis) . It is not 

 aggressive but ready to defend itself. Nothing is known 

 of its venom but the close relationship with the cascabel 

 .suggests that it is capable of a dangerous bite in spite 

 of its small size. 



CROTALIDAE: Genus Lachesis Daudin, 1803. 

 Bushiiiiister. 



A single species, />. iindiix. is found in tropical Amer- 

 ica. It attains a length of 9 to 12 feet and is considered 

 dangerous ( see pp. ."(>-."i7 ) . 



Definition: Head bmad. ver.v distinct from narrow 

 neck; snout broadly rounded, no canthus, Hody cylin- 

 drical, tapered, moderately stout ; tail short. 



Eyes snuill : pupils vertically elliptical. 



Head scales: A pair of small intcnuisals separated 

 from one another liy small scales; a pair of narrow 

 supraoculars; other parts of crown covered with very 

 small scales. Laterally, second supralabial forms an- 

 terior border of loreal pit, third very large ; eye sei)a- 

 rated liom supralabials by 4— ."> rows of small scales. 



Body scales: Dorsals heavil.v keeled with bidbous 

 tubercles, feebly imbricate, in 31-37 nonobliipte rows 

 at niidbody, fewer posteriorly. Ventrals 200-2.30; sub- 

 caudals mainly i)aired. 32-."0. followed by 13-17 rows of 

 small spines and a Iciiiiiiial spine dig. .32). 



REFERENCES 



(See aI><o (ioicral A'efcrences) 



A.MAIJAL, Afiaiiio do. 11)25. A General Con- 

 sideration of Snake Poisoninfj and Oliserva- 

 tions on Neotro[)ica1 Pit-Vi))ers. Contr. Har- 

 vard Inst. Tropical Biol. Med., 2 : CA p., 

 16 pis. 



AMARAL, Afranio do. l'.):]0. Lista renii.ssiva 



dos ophidios da regiao neotropica. Mem. 



Inst. Butantan, 4: 127-271. 

 DUNN, Emmett E. 1944. Los genereos de an- 



fibios y reptiles de Colombia, III. Tercera 



Pai-te: Reptiles; orden de las serpientes. 



Caldasia, 3 (12) : 155-224. 

 FOXSECA, Flavio da. 1949. Animais pecon- 



hentos. Publ. Inst. Butantan, Sao Paulo. 



376 p., 129 figs., 13 color pis. 

 1 1( )( ! K. Alplionse R. 1965. Prelimintiry Account 



on Xe()lroi)ical Crottilinae (Serpentes, Vi- 



l>eridae). Mem. Inst. Butantan 32:109-184, 



pis. 1-20, maps 1-10. 

 E.VZELL. James I)., Jr. 1964. The Les.ser An- 



tilleaii Kepresentatives of /iof/iro/>s and 



Con.strictor. \^\\\\. Mils. Comp. Zool., l.")2 



(:'>) : 24."')-27:',. ligs. 1-.^. 

 .MOF.K. i;. 11. I'.iL'l. Tlie Trinidad Snakes. 



I'roc. Zool. Soc. London: 235-278, pis. 1-10. 

 I'K TERS, James A. 196(1. The Snakes of Ecua- 

 dor: .\ Clieck List and Key. Bull. Mus. 



Comp. Zool., 122 (9) : 491-541. 

 ROZE, Janis A. 1955. Revision de las corales 



(Serpentes: Elapidae) de Venezuela. Acta 



Biol. Venezuelica, 1 (art. 17) : 453-500, 4 figs. 



(2 color). 

 ROZE, Janis .V. 196(i. La Tti.xonomia y Zoogeo- 



grafiii de los ofidios de Venezuela. Lniversi- 



dad Central de Venezuela, Caracas. 362 ])p. 



79 tigs., SO majis. 

 SAXDXER MOXTILLA, F. 1965. Manual de las 



serpientes ponzonosas de Venezuela. (Pub. 



by author) Caracas. 108 p. 69 figs., 9 col. pis. 

 SAXTOS, Eurico. 1955. Anfibios e repteis do 



Brasil (vida e costumes). 2nd ed. F. Bri- 



guiet & Cia., Rio de Janeiro. 262 p., 65 figs., 



10 color pis. 



NOTES 



69 



