Common names: horseshoe pitviper.

Trimeresurus strigatus is a venomous

Venomous snake

"Poisonous snake" redirects here. For true poisonous snakes, see Rhabdophis.Venomous snakes are snakes which have venom glands and specialized teeth for the injection of venom...

 pitviper

Crotalinae

The Crotalinae, commonly known as "pit vipers" or crotaline snakes, are a subfamily of venomous vipers found in Asia and the Americas. They are distinguished by the presence of a heat-sensing pit organ located between the eye and the nostril on either side of the head...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 found in southern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Geographic range

Found in the hills of southern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The type locality listed is "Cape of Good Hope?" and "Madras?" (Madras, India). The former must be a mistake.
Trimeresurus strigatus may be distinguished from other pit vipers of the peninsular India based on the presence of small internasal, 21 rows of keeled scales round the mid body and single row of scales between labials and sub-oculars. Common name of the species is based on the presence of a pale buff horse- shoe mark on the nape. Trimeresurus strigatus is distributed in Nilgiri, Anamalai, Palni and Tirunelveli Hills of the Western and Shevroy Hills in the Eastern Ghats (Smith, 1943). Mean SVL, tL and wt of 12 snakes measured 24.4 + 7.04 cm, 3.5 + 0.8 cm and 17.2 + 10.5 g respectively.