Bothrops barnetti, also known commonly as Barnett's lancehead and Barnett's pit viper, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Peru. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.
Etymology The specific name, barnetti, is in honor of Burgess Barnett (1888–1944), who collected the holotype and paratypes. Dr. Barnett was Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo (1932–1937) and Superintendent of the Rangoon Zoological Gardens (1938–1944).Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Bothrops barnetti, p. 17).
Description Bothrops barnetti is patterned in white and black triangles. Males usually grow to 120 cm (47 inches) in total length (tail included) and are stocky, whereas females are quite smaller and thinner.
Common names English common names for Bothrops barnetti are Barnett's lanceheadCampbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1,500 plates. . and Barnett's pit viper.Brown, John Haynes (1973). Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73–229. . In Peru it is referred to as cascabel, cascabel falso, macanche, sancarranca, and zancarranca.
Geographic range Bothrops barnetti is found along the Pacific coast of northern Peru. It occurs at low elevations in arid, tropical scrub.
The type locality given is "from the mouths of Quebradas Honda and Perines, between Lobitos and Talara, northern Peru".
Reproduction Bothrops barnetti is viviparous.
References
Further reading Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (Bothrops barnetti, p. 119). Parker HW (1938). "The Vertical Distribution of some Reptiles and Amphibians in Southern Ecuador ". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Eleventh Series 2: 438–450. (Bothrops barnetti, new species, p. 447). Schmidt KP, Walker WF (1943). "Snakes of the Peruvian Coastal Region". Zoological Series of the Field Museum of Natural History 24 (27): 297–324. (Trimeresurus barnetti, new combination, p. 322). Silva, Walter (2012). "Haltung und Zucht der Sancarranca (Bothrops barnetti)". Ophidia 6 (1): 8–25. (in German).