Cerastes vipera

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Cerastes vipera
Temporal range: Pleistocene-recent[1]

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Cerastes
Species:
C. vipera
Binomial name
Cerastes vipera
Synonyms[3]

Cerastes vipera, common names Sahara sand viper and Avicenna viper, is a viper species endemic to the deserts of North Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. No subspecies are currently recognized.[4] Like all other vipers, it is venomous.

Description

C. vipera, neonate.

Adults average 20–35 cm (8-14 inches) in total length (body + tail), with a maximum total length of 50 cm (1.6 ft). Females are larger than males.[5] Small and stout, it has a broad, triangular head with small eyes set well forward and situated on the junction of the side and the top of the head.

Their hunting strategy is unique when compared to that of other viperids because they use a combination of both sit-and-wait ambushing and active hunting. Active hunting is predominantly used in the months right before hibernation to increase energy intake before the long dormant period.[6]

Common names

Common names include Sahara sand viper, Avicenna viper,[5] common sand viper,[7] Egyptian asp, Cleopatra's asp, sand viper,[8] Avicenna's sand viper, and lesser cerastes.[9]

Geographic range

In arid North Africa, it is found in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Chad and Egypt. In the Sinai Peninsula, it is found in Egypt,[10] Sudan and Israel.

The

type locality given is "Ægypto" (Egypt).[3]

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T178210A15636436.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-893777-01-4
    (volume).
  4. ^ "Cerastes vipera". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-89464-877-2
    .
  6. S2CID 2651713
    .
  7. ISBN 0-7137-1704-1
    .
  8. ISBN 0-398-02808-7
    .
  9. ISBN 0-486-26629-X
    .
  10. ^ Abukashawa, S.M.A., Papenfuss, T.J. & Alkhedir, I.S. 2018. Geographic Distribution: Cerastes vipera (Sahara Sand Viper). Herpetological Review 49 (1): 75.

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the...Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I.- XXV. (Cerastes vipera, pp. 503–504).
  • Joger, Uhlrich. 1984. The Venomous Snakes of the Near and Middle East. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, A, 12. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. 115 pp.
    ISBN 3882261994
    .
  • Linnaeus C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Coluber vipera, p. 216).
  • Schnurrenberger, Hans. 1959. Observations on Behavior in Two Libyan Species of Viperine Snakes. Herpetologica 15 (2): 70-72. (Aspis vipera).
  • Subach, A, Scharf, I & Ovadia, O. 2009. Foraging behavior and predation success of the sand viper (Cerastes vipera). Canadian Journal of Zoology 87: 520-528. PDF
  • Subach, A. (2020). Using animal tracks to decipher the foraging mode of species capable of altering between the sit-and-wait and widely foraging modes: a case study of the sand viper Cerastes vipera. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution, 66(1-2), 94-100.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cerastes vipera.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cerastes_vipera&oldid=1214577709"