about as high, or slightly higher, than it is wide. There are three to 11 (usually five to 9) keeled intersupraocular scales, seven to 13 (usually eight to 11) sublabial scales and six to 9 (usually seven) supralabial scales, the second of which is fused with the prelacunal to form a lacunolabial. The color pattern is highly variable, including a ground color that may be olive, brown, tan, gray, yellow, or (rarely) rusty. The body markings are highly variable, as is the degree of contrast: in some specimens the pattern is very well defined, while in others it may be virtually absent. In general, however, the body pattern consists of a series of dorsolateral blotches, rectangular or trapezoidal in shape, which extend from the first scale row to the middle of the back. These blotches may oppose or alternate across the midline, often fusing to form bands. They also have pale borders, which in some cases may be prominent, and may be invaded from below by tan or gray pigment, occasionally dividing them into pairs of ventrolateral spots. The belly may be white, cream or yellowish gray, with an increasing amount of gray to black mottling posteriorly that may fade again under the tail. The head usually does not have any markings other than a moderately wide postocular stripe that runs from behind the eye back to the angle of the mouth. The iris is gold or bronze, with varying amounts of black reticulation, while the tongue is black. Distribution and habitat This species is found in the tropical lowlands of South America east of the Andes, including southeastern Colombia, southern and eastern Venezuela, the island of Trinidad (although there is some confusion regarding the taxonomical systematics of this population), Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, Panama, northern Bolivia and the northern half of Brazil. The type locality is listed as "Asia", which is obviously a mistake. Schmidt and Walker (1943:295) proposed this be corrected to "Surinam". Despite the vast destruction of rain forests, it is among the most numerous and common of pit vipers and is not endangered. In Trinidad, it prefers wet forests from sea level to 940 m. Along with Bothrops caribbaeus and B. lanceolatus, it is one of three Bothrops species found in the West Indies. Behavior Although generally terrestrial, it is also an excellent swimmer and even climbs trees when necessary to reach