518 
THE CORAL TRIANGLE: HEARST BIODIVERSITY EXPEDITION 
Trimeresurus {Parias) schultzei (Griffin, 1909) 
Schultz’s Philippine Pitviper 
Figure 13 
Trimeresurus schultzei Griffin, 1909:601.— Taylor, 1922a:292.— Leviton, 1964:263. Toriba, 1993:105.— 
David and Ineich, 1999:290.— Gumprecht et ah, 2004: 37, 9 col. photos (pp. 288-289). 
Description. — Scales on head and chin smooth or irregularly keeled; first upper labial sep¬ 
arated from nasal by distinct suture; second upper labial fused to scale foiming forming anterior 
border of facial pit; body scales in 21 [rarely 23] longitudinal rows at midbody; ventrals 187-203, 
subcaudals 66-82; a distinct light stripe, or at least a series of light spots, present along outer scale 
row; dorsal color greenish-brown to brown or purplish brown with 50-62 indistinct dark bars or 
zig-zag lines across dorsum, each 2-3 scale rows wide; a distinct yellow line along outer, ventro¬ 
lateral scale row; ventrals edged with black; tail distinctly differentiated from body by its light 
color and without dorsal markings; hemipenes spinose. 
Size. — Snout-vent length (cJ) 706 mm, (5) 1022 mm; tail length (c?) 162 mm, ($) 198 mm 
Distribution. — Endemic to Philippines (Balabac; Palawan). 
Genus Tropidolaemus Wagler, 1830 
Pitvipers 
Tropidolaemus Wagler, 1830:175 (Type species: Tropidolaemus wagleri Wagler, 1830:175). 
Diagnosis. — Hemipenes long, slender, deeply forked, spinose; first upper labial not fused to 
nasal scale; second upper labial not fused to scale forming anterior border of facial pit; scales on 
dorsum of head and throat strongly keeled; body scales in 19-25 longitudinal rows at midbody. 
Remarks. — See brief discussion in McDiaimid, Campbell, and Toure (1999:349), also David 
and Ineich (1999:294), Resurrected from the synonymy of Trimeresurus and then included as a 
subgenus by Brattstrom (1964:251), Burger (1971:109) and others but then recognized as a distinct 
genus following the studies of Kraus, Mink, and Brown (1996:769). 
Tropidolaemus philippensis (Gray, 1842) 
Philippine Temple Pitviper 
Figure 52B, E-F 
Trimeresurus philippensis Gray, 1842:48.— Taylor, 1922a:295, pi. 37, fig.l. 
Tropidolaemus hombronii Guichenot in Jacquinot and Guichenot, 1853:23, pi. 2, fig. 3. 
Trimeresurus wagleri, Leviton, 1964:265. 
Tropidolaemus wagleri, David and Ineich, 1999:295 (doubtfully included in T wagleri). 
Tropidolaemus philippensis, Vogel et al., 2007:31, figs. 25-26. 
Description. — Scales on head strongly keeled; body scales in 18-19 longitudinal rows 
around midbody and 19-21 around neck; scales on snout along a straight line fi-om rostral to level 
of supraoculars (cJ) 4-5, (5) 5; seales on dorsum of head on line between supraoeulars 6-8; ven¬ 
trals 129-135, subcaudals 44-46 (49); color green-turquoise background in males, green in 
females; postocular stripe black, rarely white in both males and females. (After Vogel et al. 2007:31 
et seq.) 
Size. — Total length (S) 455 mm; tail length (cJ) 65 mm. 
Distribution. — Endemic to Philippines (Leyte; Mindanao [Prov.: Agusan Del Norte, Bukid- 
non, Cotabato, Davao del Sur]; Samar). 
Remarks, — Tropidolaemus philippensis and T. subannulatus were formerly included in the 
ubiquitous species T. wagleri. Recent studies have indicated that several recognizeable species 
