NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Ceylon Pit Viper
Craspedocephalus trigonocephalus (Donndorff, 1798)
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
Craspedocephalus trigonocephalus, the Sri Lankan pit viper, Ceylon pit viper, Sri Lankan green pitviper or locally, pala polonga, (Sinhala: පළා පොළඟා) is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Sri Lanka. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Wikipedia contributors, Craspedocephalus trigonocephalus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:07:22.580116+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Craspedocephalus trigonocephalus (Donndorff, 1798)
- Name authority
- (Donndorff, 1798)
- Common name
- Ceylon Pit Viper
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Viperidae
- Genus
- Craspedocephalus
- 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
- genusCraspedocephalus
- speciesCraspedocephalus trigonocephalus (Donndorff, 1798)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Craspedocephalus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Sumatran Palm Pit ViperCraspedocephalus andalasensis (David, Vogel, Vijayakumar & Vidal, 2006) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Bamboo ViperCraspedocephalus gramineus (Shaw, 1802) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Wirot’s Pit ViperCraspedocephalus wiroti (Trutnau, 1981) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Malabarian Pit ViperCraspedocephalus anamallensis (Günther, 1864) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Travancore Pit ViperCraspedocephalus travancoricus Mallik, Srikanthan, Ganesh, Vijayakumar, Campbell, Malhotra & Shanker, 2021 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Trigonocephalus nigromarginatus Kuhl, 1820 Kuhl, 1820 | synonym |
| Coluber trigonocephalus Donndorff, 1798 Donndorff, 1798 | synonym |
| Coluber capite-triangulatus Lacepede, 1789 Lacepede, 1789 | synonym |
| Vipera trigonocephala Latreille ex Sonnini & Latreille, 1802 Latreille ex Sonnini & Latreille, 1802 | synonym |
| Trigonocephalus sagittiformis Schinz, 1822 Schinz, 1822 | synonym |
| Megaera olivacea Gray, 1842 Gray, 1842 | 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=Craspedocephalus&species=trigonocephalus 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:8S5BS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.