Solórzano et al. (1998) investigated geographic variation in Bothriechis schlegelii in Costa Rica. On the basis of apparently consistent colour pattern and scalation differences, they conclude that the populations from southwestern Costa Rica (Valle del General and parts of Puntarenas Province) represent a different species, Bothriechis supraciliaris. The medical significance of the differentiation between these forms is unknown, but should be taken into account by venom researchers.

• Solórzano, A., L.D. Gómez, J. Monge-Nájera, J., & B.I. Crother (1998) Redescription and validation of Bothriechis supraciliaris (Serpentes: Viperidae). Revista de Biología Tropical 46: 453-462.

Gutberlet (1998) carried out a phylogenetic analysis of various Central American pitvipers, and found that the Mexican black-tailed pitviper (previously known as Porthidium melanurum) is more closely related to Ophryacus undulatus, the Mexican horned pitviper, than to the hognosed pitvipers of the genus Porthidium. Consequently, this species was transferred to the genus Ophryacus, becoming Ophryacus melanurus.

• Gutberlet, R.L. (1998) The phylogenetic position of the Mexican black-tailed pitviper (Squamata: Viperidae: Crotalinae). Herpetologica, 54(2): 184-206.

Stuebing and Inger (1998) analysed variation in Trimeresurus sumatranus on the island of Borneo. They noted categorical differences between specimens from Mt. Kinabalu, normally assigned to the subspecies T. s. malcolmi and those from low-lying areas of Sabah and Sarawak (normally classified as T. s. sumatranus), and therefore came to the conclusion that the high-elevation populations from Mt. Kinabalu should be treated as a separate species, T. malcolmi.

• Stuebing, R.B. & R.F. Inger, R.F. (1998) Additional records on two rare snakes from Borneo, with the confirmation of Trimeresurus malcolmi Loveridge as a distinct species. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 46: 325-328.

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