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Bitis inornata (SMITH, 1838)

IUCN Red List - Bitis inornata - Vulnerable, VU

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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Plain Mountain Adder, Hornless Adder 
SynonymEchidna inornata SMITH 1838: 4
Clotho atropos GRAY 1849: 26 (part.)
Echidna inornata — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1437
Vipera inornata — STRAUCH 1869: 97
Bitis inornata — BOULENGER 1896: 496
Bitis inornata — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Bitis cornuta inornata — UNDERWOOD 1968: 84 (part.)
Bitis cornuta inornata — WELCH 1994: 27
Bitis (Calechidna) inornata — LENK et al. 1999
Bitis inornata — BRANCH 1999: 54
Bitis inornata — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 364
Bitis inornata — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Bitis (Calechidna) inornata — WITTENBERG et al. 2014
Bitis inornata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 93
Bitis (Calechidna) inornata — BARLOW et al. 2019 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa (inland old escarpment, and Sneeuberg near Graaf-Reinet).

Type locality: Sneeuwbergen, near Graaff Reinet, Cape Province.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.18.13 (formerly BMNH 1865.5.4.166). 
Diagnosis 
CommentVenomous! Sometimes the author of this species is given as SMITH 1849. Previously described relict populations on Cedarberg are in fact Bitis rubida (W. Wüster, pers. comm.) 
References
  • Barlow A, Wüster W, Kelly CMR, Branch WR, Phelps T, Tolley KA. 2019. Ancient habitat shifts and organismal diversification are decoupled in the African viper genus Bitis (Serpentes: Viperidae). J Biogeogr. 46: 1234– 1248 - get paper here
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Branch, W. R. 1989. A new Adder (Bitis) from the Cedarberg, and the Status of Bitis inornata: Preliminary Observations. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (36): 64-67 - get paper here
  • Branch, W.R. 1999. Dwarf adders of the Bitis cornuta-inornata complex (Serptentes: Viperidae) in Southern Africa. Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 39-63
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C., Bibron, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1849. Catalogue of the specimens of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Edward Newman, London, i-xv; 1-125. - get paper here
  • Lenk,P.; Herrmann,H. W.; Joger,U. & Wink,M. 1999. Phylogeny and taxonomic subdivision of Bitis (Reptilia: Viperidae) based on molecular evidence. Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 31-38 - get paper here
  • Mallow, D. Ludwig, D. & Nilson, G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Krieger, Malabar, Florida, 410 pp. [review in HR 35: 200, Reptilia 35: 74]
  • Martínez del Mármol, G. 2020. The phenotypic variability of the Genus Bitis Gray 1842, with remarks in its resemblance to other vipers. In: Martínez, G., León, R., Jiménez-Robles, O., González De la Vega, J. P., Gabari, V., Rebollo, B., Sánchez-Tójar, A., Fernández-Cardenete, J. R., Gállego, J. (Eds.). Amphibians and Reptiles of Morocco and Western Sahara - get paper here
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Phelps, T. 2010. Old World Vipers. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 558 pp. [critical review in Sauria 33 (3): 19 and HR 43: 503]
  • Smith, A. 1838. Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, consisting chiefly of Figures and Descriptions of the Objects of Natural History collected during an Expedition into the Interior of South Africa, in the years 1834, 1835, and 1836 . . . Vol. 3, Reptilia. Smith, Elder, and Co., London [This series was published in 28 parts; see Waterhouse 1880, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880:489-491, and Jentink 1893, Notes Leyden Mus. 15:182, for publication dates and contents.] - get paper here
  • Underwood G. 1968. On the status of some South Africna vipers. Ann. Cape Prov, Mus. 6 (9): 81-85
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wittenberg, Rod D. & Robert C. Jadin & Allyson M. Fenwick & Ronald L. Gutberlet Jr. 2014. Recovering the evolutionary history of Africa’s most diverse viper genus: morphological and molecular phylogeny of Bitis (Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae). Org Divers Evol, DOI 10.1007/s13127-014-0185-3
 
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