Abstract
Total body size for arboreal vipers is normally biased toward small males and larger females. We evaluated sexual dimorphism in adult and sub-adultTrimeresurus macrops, a small, arboreal green pit viper commonly found in Southeast Asia, but severely understudied. We evaluated morphological characters of 139 adultT. macropsobtained by active and opportunistic searches at Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve in northeast Thailand, from May 2012 to October 2014. We compared 7 external characters including residual index (Ri) and scaled mass index (SMI) between male and femaleT. macrops. Body length measurements and mass differed between males and females. Females had greater snout-vent length, body mass and head length and width, while males had greater tail lengths. A postocular stripe was always present on males, but never on females. Male head size was negatively correlated with SMI, which may reveal intersexual competition inT. macrops. Sexually dimorphic characters inT. macropsmay have evolved through intraspecific resource partitioning.
Published Version
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