NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Kham plateau pitviper
Protobothrops xiangchengensis (Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1978)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Protobothrops xiangchengensis, commonly known as the Szechwan pit viper, Kham Plateau pit viper, or Sichuan lancehead, is a pit viper species endemic to the Hengduan Mountains in south-central China. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Wikipedia contributors, Protobothrops xiangchengensis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:32:57.712041+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Protobothrops xiangchengensis (Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1978)
- Name authority
- (Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1978)
- Common name
- Kham plateau pitviper
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Viperidae
- Genus
- Protobothrops
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyViperidae
- subfamilyCrotalinae
- genusProtobothrops
- speciesProtobothrops xiangchengensis (Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1978)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Protobothrops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Horned Pit Viper (Fi-Si-Pan)Protobothrops cornutus (Smith, 1930) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| HabuProtobothrops flavoviridis (Hallowell, 1861) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Protobothrops himalayanus Pan, Chettri, Yang, Jiang, Wang, Zhang & Vogel, 2013 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kaulback’s lance-headed pitviperProtobothrops kaulbacki (Smith, 1940) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sievers’ Three horned-scaled pitviperProtobothrops sieversorum (Ziegler, Herrmann, David, Orlov & Pauwels, 2000) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tokara HabuProtobothrops tokarensis (Nagai, 1928) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elegant pitviperProtobothrops elegans (Gray, 1849) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dabie Mountains Pit ViperProtobothrops dabieshanensis Huang, Pan, Han, Zhang, Hou, Yu, Zheng & Zhang, 2012 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Protobothrops jerdonii (Günther, 1875) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mang Mountain PitviperProtobothrops mangshanensis (Zhao, 1990) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mao-lan pitviperProtobothrops maolanensis Yang, Orlov & Wang, 2011 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brown spotted pitviperProtobothrops mucrosquamatus (Cantor, 1839) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Trimeresurus xiangchengensis Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1978 Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1978 | synonym |
| Trimeresurus xiangchengensis Zhao, 1978 Zhao, 1978 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Protobothrops&species=xiangchengensis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4N4PS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.