Porthidium porrasi
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Porthidium porrasi is a species of hognose pit viper endemic to south-west Costa Rica. Like all pit vipers, P. porrasi is venomous. Distinguished from similar species with its extremely upright nose and various scale morphologies, the white-tailed snub-nose viper is named commonly after another distinguishing characteristic, its white tail tip which is sometimes cream or yellow. It grows to a maximum of 50 cm. Its head is broad and distinct from its neck.
Porthidium porrasi is a nocturnal/crepuscular, terrestrial snake. It prefers to stay camouflaged under leaf litter and its preferred habitat is rainforests, from sea level to 200 m of elevation. The white-tailed snub-nose viper is considered to be either ovoviviparous or viviparous. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Hognose Viper sighting in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 35 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Hognose Viper in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, June–August and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-tailed Hognose Viper sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Piedras Blancas National Park, in our data
Piedras Blancas National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate White-tailed Hognose Viper sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-tailed Hognose Viper is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Piedras Blancas National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
