First report of Bothriechis schlegelii (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico

Bothriechis schlegelli is a widely distributed New World species of pitviper, with a distribution extending from northern Chiapas, Mexico, to northern Peru and western Venezuela; in Chiapas it has been reported from various localities in the state (Alvarez del Toro, 1982; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Grünwald et al., 2016). Campbell and Lamar (2004) included southern Tabasco in the shaded portion of their distribution map, and while this species possibly occurs there, we are unaware of any specimens from that state. During a recent examination of specimens of Bothriechis from Mexico, DBW encountered a specimen of B. schlegelii from Oaxaca in the collection at the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History (UIMNH). Since this species has not been reported from Oaxaca and is not considered part of the state’s herpetofauna (Köhler, 2008; Johnson et al., 2010, Mata-Silva et al., 2015; Schätti and Stutz, 2016), we report this specimen below.