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Echis megalocephalus CHERLIN, 1990

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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Large-headed Carpet Viper, Cherlin's Saw-scaled Viper 
SynonymEchis megalocephalus CHERLIN 1990
Echis megalocephalus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 379
Echis megalocephalus — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 620
Echis megalocephalus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 256 
DistributionEritrea (Dahhlah); Indian Ocean Islands

Type locality: "Ostrov na yuge Krasnovo morya" [Islands in southern Red Sea]. Borkin and Cherlin 1995: 136 [English summary] noted that the type-locality "seems to be restricted to Nokra Island (Dakhlak Archipelago, the Red Sea, Ethiopia)." McDiarmid et al. 1999 interpret this as a clarification of the type-locality, not a restriction in the nomenclatural sense. The type locality could be Hanish el Kebir, 13°45'N, 42°45'E) or one of the Dakhlak islands (UJ).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZISP (ZIL) 19430.1; paratypes: ZIN.19530.2-4 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (449 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: Maybe synonymous with E. pyramidum (fide G. Nilson in MCDIARMID et al. 1999). Not listed by WELCH 1994. Pook et al. 2009 list this species with a question mark.

Conservation: one of the 30 most endangered viper species (Maritz et al. 2016). 
References
  • Borkin, L. Y., & Cherlin, V. A. 1995. ON THE VALIDITY OF THE NAME ECHIS-COLORATUS AND THE TYPE LOCALITY OF ECHIS-MEGALOCEPHALUS. Zoologichesky Zhurnal, 74 (9): 134-136
  • Cherlin, V.A. 1990. Taxonomic revision of the snake genus Echis (Viperidae). II. An analysis of taxonomy and description of new forms [in Russian]. Proc. Zool. Institute Leningrad 207: 193-223
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 694 pp.
  • Maritz, Bryan; Johannes Penner, Marcio Martins, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailović, Stephen Spear, Laura R.V. Alencar, Jesús Sigala-Rodriguez, Kevin Messenger, Rulon W. Clark, Pritpal Soorae, Luca Luiselli, Chris Jenkins, Harry W. Greene 2016. Identifying global priorities for the conservation of vipers. Biological Conservation, doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.004 - 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]
  • 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.
 
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