The color varies from tan to reddish-brown, the pattern varies, from darker and lighter spots, similar to light diagonal dorsolateral lines. It has 23 to 31 rows of dorsal scale of the medium body, the belly is yellowish or whitish in color with dark, brown or gray spots, and irregular spots on the sides.[9] It is a snake with terrestrial behavior, growing on average in 250–1840 mm, mainly found in forests, arid, semi-arid, dry, humid and sub-humid regions.[10]
Bothrops leucurus is found in eastern Brazil along the Atlantic coast from northern Espírito Santo north to Alagoas and Ceará. It occurs more inland in several parts of Bahia. The identity of disjunct populations west of the Rio São Francisco is uncertain. The type locality is listed as "provinciae Bahiae".[2] It inhabits both urban and rural areas.[11]
Bothrops leucurusisviviparous.[3] The gestation period is four months, and a medium-sized litter is 19 young, birth occurs between winter and summer.[10]
It feeds on rodents, lizards, amphibians, snakes and birds (Martins et al., 2002).[12] with adults feeding on rodents, and juveniles feeding on frogs and lizards.
The whitetail lancehead is responsible for the most bites in the state of Bahia. The venom contains high fibrinolytic, proteolytic, hemorrhagic and edematogenic activity, and low coagulant activity, which can cause myonecrosis in humans. Symptoms include local pain, edema, erythema and ecchymosis (local symptoms), hemorrhagic and coagulation symptoms, digestive disorders (nausea, vomiting and diarrhea), urinary disorders (oliguria, anuria, hematuria) with headaches, dizziness, hypotension, bradycardia, visual disturbances and tremors.[10]
^Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes). ("English equivalents of Latin names", p. 3).
Fenwick AM, Gutberlet RL Jr, Evans JA, Parkinson CL (2009). "Morphological and molecular evidence for phylogeny and classification of South American pitvipers, genera Bothrops, Bothriopsis, and Bothrocophias (Serpentes: Viperidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society156 (3): 617–640.
Hoge AR (1948). "Notas erpétologicas. 3. Uma nova espécie de Trimeresurus". Memórias do Instituto Butantan20: 193–202. (Trimeresurus pradoi, new species). (in Portuguese).
Wagler J (1824). In:Spix J (1824). Serpentum Brasiliensium species novae, ou histoire naturelle des espèces nouvelles de serpens ... Munich: F.S. Hübschmann. viii + 75 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (Bothrops Magaera, new species, p. 50 + Plate XIX). (Bothrops leucurus, new species, p. 57 + Plate XXII, Figure 2). (in French and Latin).
