title: Nomenclatural instability in the venomous snakes of the Bothrops complex: Implications in toxinology and public health.
abstract: Since nomenclature is intended to reflect the evolutionary history of organisms, advances in our understanding of historical relationships may lead to changes in classification, and thus potentially in taxonomic instability. An unstable nomenclature for medically important animals like venomous snakes is of concern, and its implications in venom/antivenom research and snakebite treatment have been extensively discussed since the 90´s. The taxonomy of the pitvipers of the Bothrops complex has been historically problematic and different genus-level rearrangements were proposed to rectify the long-standing paraphyly of the group. Here we review the toxinological literature on the Bothrops complex to estimate the impact of recent proposals of classification in non-systematic research. This assessment revealed moderate levels of nomenclatural instability in the last five years, and the recurrence of some practices discussed in previous studies regarding the use of classifications and the information provided about the origin of venom samples. We briefly comment on a few examples and the implications of different proposals of classifications for the Bothrops complex. The aim of this review is to contribute to the reduction of adverse effects of current taxonomic instability in a group of medical importance in the Americas.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Zoología Aplicada, Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA-CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Rondeau 798, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina. Electronic address: ammodytoides@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Paola Andrea
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Carrasco
authors.affiliation: División de Herpetología, Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI), Santa Rita, 10536, Of. 202, Huertos de San Antonio, Surco, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Pablo Javier
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Venegas
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Herpetología del Museo de Historia Natural del Cusco, Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Plaza de Armas del Cusco s/n, Cusco, Perú
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chaparro
authors.affiliation: CONICET and Instituto de Herpetología, Fundación Miguel Lillo, Miguel Lillo 251, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gustavo José
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Scrocchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017837:Bothrops; D003435:Crotalid Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011634:Public Health; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D003435:Crotalid Venoms
keywords: Bothrops; Nomenclature; Systematics; Taxonomy; Toxinology; Venoms