Townsend Josiah H, Medina-Flores Melissa, Wilson Larry David, Jadin Robert C, Austin James D
Department of Biology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705-1081, USA ; Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras.
Zookeys. 2013 May 13(298):77-106. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.298.4834. Print 2013.
A new species of palm-pitviper of the genus Bothriechis is described from Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat in northern Honduras. The new species differs from congeners by having 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody, a bright green dorsal coloration in adults, the prelacunal scale fused to the second supralabial, and in representing a northern lineage that is sister to Bothriechis lateralis, which is distributed in Costa Rica and western Panama and is isolated from the new taxon by the Nicaraguan Depression. This represents the 15th endemic species occurring in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, one of the richest herpetofaunal sites in Honduras, itself being the country with the highest degree of herpetofaunal endemism in Central America. We name this new species in honor of a Honduran conservationist slain in fighting against illegal logging, highlighting the sacrifices of rural activists in battling these issues and the critical importance of conservation in these areas.
一种新的睫角棕榈蝰属（Bothriechis）棕榈蝰物种在洪都拉斯北部的特西瓜特野生动物保护区被发现并被描述。该新物种与同属其他物种的区别在于，其身体中部有19排背鳞，成年个体背部呈亮绿色，眶前鳞与第二片上唇鳞愈合，并且代表了一个北方谱系，是分布在哥斯达黎加和巴拿马西部的侧纹睫角棕榈蝰（Bothriechis lateralis）的姐妹谱系，尼加拉瓜低地将这两个物种分隔开来。这是特西瓜特野生动物保护区出现的第15个特有物种，特西瓜特是洪都拉斯最丰富的爬行动物区系地点之一，而洪都拉斯本身又是中美洲爬行动物区系特有程度最高的国家。我们以一位在打击非法伐木斗争中遇害的洪都拉斯环保主义者的名字来命名这个新物种，以突出农村维权人士在应对这些问题时所做出的牺牲以及这些地区保护工作的至关重要性。
