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Gold eyelash viper coiled on palm leaf

Eyelash viper

Eyelash vipers are arguably the world's most beautiful snakes - and one of its most dangerous. Found in Central and South America, these small, slender venomous snakes are far from typical pit-vipers. Distinctive modified scales over their eyes have the appearance of eyelashes, and go a some way to help camouflage these otherwise highly coloured snakes. Unusually, the scales of eyelash vipers are rough, which offers protection from the branches in their forest homes. Eyelash vipers have accidently been sent all over the world in shipments of bananas.

Scientific name: Bothriechis schlegelii

Rank: Species

Common names:

  • Eyelash mountain viper,
  • Eyelash palm-pitviper,
  • Eyelash pit viper,
  • Eyelash snake,
  • Horned palm viper,
  • Schlegel's pit viper,
  • Schlegel's viper

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Distribution

The Eyelash viper can be found in a number of locations including: Amazon Rainforest, South America. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Eyelash viper distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Rainforest Rainforest
Rainforests are the world's powerhouses, the most vital habitats on the planet. Characterised by high rainfall, they only cover 6% of the Earth across the tropical regions, but they contain more than half of its plant and animal species.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

About

The eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) is a venomous pit viper species found in Central and South America. Small and arboreal, these snakes are characterized by their wide array of color variations, as well as the superciliary scales over the eyes. Often present in zoological exhibits. Named after the German ornithologist, Hermann Schlegel. For other common names see below. No subspecies are currently recognized.

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Classification

  1. Life
  2. Animals
  3. Vertebrates
  4. Reptiles
  5. Scaled reptiles
  6. Snakes
  7. Vipers
  8. Bothriechis
  9. Eyelash viper

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