You are here » home › advanced search › Cerastes gasperettii

Cerastes gasperettii LEVITON & ANDERSON, 1967

IUCN Red List - Cerastes gasperettii - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Cerastes gasperettii?

Add your own observation of
Cerastes gasperettii »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesCerastes gasperettii mendelssohni WERNER & SIVAN in WERNER et al. 1999
Cerastes gasperettii gasperettii LEVITON & ANDERSON 1967 
Common Names 
SynonymCerastes cerastes gasperettii LEVITON & ANDERSON 1967: 183
Cerastes cornutus ANDERSON 1896
Aspis cerastes — SCHMIDT 1939
Cerastes cerastes — HAAS 1957
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — GASPERETTI 1988: 335
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — WELCH 1994: 43
Cerastes gasperettii — WERNER et al. 1999
Cerastes gasperettii — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 369
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — VAN DER KOOIJ 2001
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — HENKEL 2003
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — SINDACO et al. 2014
Cerastes gasperettii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 153
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — HABEEB & RASTEGAR -POUYANI 2016
Cerastes gasperettii gasperettii — RHADI et al. 2017
Cerastes gasperettii — BAR et al. 2021

Cerastes gasperettii mendelssohni WERNER & SIVAN in WERNER et al. 1999
Vipera cerastes — STRAUCH 1869
Cerastes cornutus — ANDERSON 1896: 71 (part.)
Aspis cerastes — MERTENS 1944: 33 (part.)
Cerastes cerastes — HAAS 1951: 92 (part.)
Cerastes cerastes cerastes — LEVITON & ANDERSON 1967 (part.)
Cerastes cerastes gasperettii — GASPERETTI 1988 (part.)
Cerastes gasperettii — WERNER 1988
Cerastes gasperetti mendelssohni WERNER & SIVAN in WERNER et al. 1999
Cerastes gasperetti mendelssohni — KUCHARZEWSKI 2011 
DistributionUnited Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
SW Iran?

mendelssohni: sand areas within the Arava Valley of Israel and Jordan (within the Great Rift Valley, between Sedom in the north and Elat in the south). Type locality: En Yahav, Arava Valley,Israel

gasperettii: Iran, UAE etc.; Type locality: Beda Azan, Abu dhabi (U.A.E.).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: CAS 97826
Holotype: HUJ R 8672, male, V1.1976, Esther Moskowitch (Don.). [mendelssohni] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Ventrals, male 151-162, female 153-172; nasal shield large,
separated from rostral and first supralabial by one row of scales; an enlarged
supranasal, bordered anteriorly by an enlarged scale; without a cluster of
enlarged scales on the mid-occipital region. (Leviton & Anderson 1967)


Additional details (329 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Subspecies: Has been considered as subspecies of C. cerastes by Leviton et al.

Distribution: Has been erroneously reported from Lebanon (Joger 1983). Not in Iraq fide Habeeb & Rastegar-Pouyani 2016. See map in Burriel-Carranza et al. 2019 for map in UAE. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013 and Bar et al. 2021. In Qatar fide Wikipedia.

Morphology: both hornless and horn-bearing specimens are known in this species. However, the subspecies mendelssohni is hornless.

Phylogenetics: Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences suggest different relationships between Cerastes gasperettii and C. vipera (Mochales-Riaño et al. 2023).

Genome: Mochales Riaño et al. 2024. 
EtymologyNamed after John Gasperetti (1920-2001), American engineer and surveyor of various companies and governments in the Middle East and Field Associate of the Department of Herpetology of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. Amr 2011 cites Alan Leviton for many more details about Gasperetti’s life. 
References
  • Aloufi, A., Al Zayer, M., & Amr, Z. S. 2023. Reptiles and Amphibians along the Coastal Area of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Ecologica Montenegrina, 68, 66-87 - get paper here
  • Aloufi, A., Amr, Z., & Baker, M. A. 2022. Reptiles from'Uruq Bani Ma'arid and Harat al Harrah protected areas in Saudi Arabia: Reptiles from two protected areas in Saudi Arabia. Herpetology Notes 15: 483-491
  • Aloufi, Abdulhadi A.; Zuhair S. Amr, Mohammad A. Abu Baker 2021. Reptiles and Amphibians of Al Madinah Al Munawwarah Province, Saudi Arabia. Russian Journal of Herpetology 28 (3): 1 - get paper here
  • Alshammari, A. M. and Busais, S. M. 2020. Distribution of snakes in Ha’il Province, Saudi Arabia, with an identification key to the species. Russian Journal of Herpetology 27 (1): 5-10. - get paper here
  • Alshammari, Ahmed M. Eman El-Abd; Massimo Ciccozzi; Alessandra Lo Presti; Marta Giovanetti; Eleonora Cella 2014. Single-Gene Versus Double-Gene Tree Analyses in Molecular Classification of Saudi Venomous Snakes. Arab J Sci Eng.; <br>DOI 10.1007/s13369-014-1491-y - get paper here
  • ALSHAMMARI, AHMED M. AND ADEL A. IBRAHIM 2015. LIZARDS AND SNAKES IN THE HISTORICAL FAID PROTECTED AREA (FAID HEMA), HA'IL REGION, SAUDI ARABIA. Herp. Cons. Biol. 10 (3):1021–1029 - get paper here
  • Alshammari, Ahmed M. and Adel A. Ibrahim 2015. Lizards and Snakes in the Historical Faid Protected Area (Faid Hema), Ha'il Region, Saudi Arabia. Herp. Cons. Biol. 10 (3) - get paper here
  • Alshammari, Ahmed Mohajja; Salem M. Busais, Abdel A. Ibrahim 2017. Snakes in the Province of Ha’il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including two new records. Herpetozoa 30 (1/2): 59 - 63 - get paper here
  • Amr, Zuhair S. 2011. The history of herpetology in Western Asia. Russ. J. Herpetol. 18 (2): 119-129 - get paper here
  • Anderson, John 1896. A Contribution to the Herpetology of Arabia, with a preliminary list of the reptiles and batrachians of Egypt. London, R. H. Porter, 124 pp. - get paper here
  • Bar, A., Haimovitch, G. and Meiri, S. 2021. Field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Israel. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt Am Main. ISBN 9783-89973-120-0 - get paper here
  • Bar, Aviad and Guy Haimovitch 2012. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Israel. Pazbar LTD, 246 pp. - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Burriel-Carranza B, Pedro Tarroso, Johannes Els, Andrew Gardner, Pritpal Soorae, Ahmed Ali Mohammed, Sai Ravi Krishna Tubati, Mohamed Mustafa Eltayeb, Junid Nazeer Shah, Héctor Tejero-Cicuéndez, Marc Simó-Riudalbas, Juan Manuel Pleguezuelos, Daniel F 2019. An integrative assessment of the diversity, phylogeny, distribution, and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles (Sauropsida, Squamata) of the United Arab Emirates. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0216273 - get paper here
  • Carnea, A., Fathinia, B. and Rastegar-Pouyani, E. 2020. Molecular phylogeny of the Arabian horned viper, Cerastes gasperettii (Serpentes: Viperidae) in the Middle East. Zoology in the Middle East 66: 13-20. - get paper here
  • Carranza S, Xipell M, Tarroso P, Gardner A, Arnold EN, Robinson MD, et al. 2018. Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata). PLoS One 13 (2): e0190389 - get paper here
  • Carranza, Salvador; Johannes Els; Bernat Burriel-Carranza 2021. A field guide to the reptiles of Oman. Madrid : Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 223 pp. [review in HR 53 (3): 531] - get paper here
  • Disi, A.M.; Modry, D.; Nečas, P. & Rifai, L. 2001. Amphibians and reptiles of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 408 pp.
  • Egan, D. 2007. Snakes of Arabia. Motivate Publishing, Dubai, 208 pp.
  • Fathnia, B.; N. Rastegar Pouyani; H. Darvishnia; M. Rajabzadeh 2010. The snake fauna of Ilam Province, southwestern Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics 6 (1) - get paper here
  • Gardner, A.S. 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Oman and the UAE. Edition Chimaira, 480 pp.
  • Gasperetti,J. 1988. Snakes of Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 9: 169-450
  • Gebhart, J. 2013. Oman, quer durch`s Weihrauchland - ein Reisetagebuch. L@CERTIDAE (Eidechsen Online) 2013 [8]: 142-159 - get paper here
  • Geniez, Philippe 2018. Snakes of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Princeton University Press, 384 pp. - get paper here
  • Haas, Georg 1951. On the present state of our knowledge of the herpetofauna of Palestine. Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel 1: 67-95
  • Habeeb, Israa Nadhim & Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani 2016. Geographical distribution of the snakes of Iraq. Mesopotamia Environmental Journal 2 (3): 67-77
  • Henkel, F.-W. 2003. Herpetological expedition through Oman. Reptilia (GB) (27): 50-55 - get paper here
  • Joger U 1983. Book Review: Harding & Welch, Venomous snakes of the world, Pergamon Press, 1980. Salamandra 19 (1-2): 99-102 - get paper here
  • Jongbloed, M. 2000. Field Guide to the reptiles and amphibians of the UAE - Wild about reptiles. Barkers Trident Communications, 116 pp.
  • Kamali, Kamran 2020. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Iran. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (www.chimaira.de). 574 pp.
  • Khalaf, S. M., Abdulhadi, H. L., Dabdoub, B. R., & Ali, L. H. 2020. Estimation of Some Genetic and Physiological Variables of Iraqi Desert Snake Cerastes gasperettii. Jinu. M, Thankamma. P. George, NA Balaram, Sujisha. SS 2. Profile of Burn Deaths: A Study Based on Postmortem Examination of Burn Cases at RNT, 20(3), 469 - get paper here
  • KUCHARZEWSKI, C 2011. OLD WORLD VIPERS. A natural history of the Azemiopinae and Viperinae von Tony PHELPS – Anmerkungen, Ergänzungen, Korrekturen. Sauria 33 (3): 19-42 - get paper here
  • Leviton,A.E. & Anderson,S.C. 1967. Survey of the reptiles of the Sheikdom of Abu Dhabi, Arabian Peninsula. Part II. Systematic account of the collction of reptiles made in the Sheikdom of Abu Daby by John Gasperetti. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (4) 35: 157-192 - get paper here
  • Leviton,A.E.; Anderson,S.C.; Adler, K.; Minton,S.A. 1992. Handbook to Middle East Amphibians and Reptiles. SSAR, Oxford, Ohio (Contr. to Herpetol. No. 8), 1-252
  • 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]
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Meiri, Shai; Amos Belmaker, Daniel Berkowic, Kesem Kazes, Erez Maza, Guy Bar-Oz and Roi Dor 2019. A checklist of Israeli land vertebrates. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution - get paper here
  • Mertens, Robert 1944. Einige Beobachtungen über die Hornviper (Aspis cerastes). Wochenschrift (Blätter) für Aquarien- und Terrarienkunde 1944 (2): 33-35
  • Mochales-Riaño, Gabriel; Bernat Burriel-Carranza, Margarida Isabel Barros, Guillermo Velo-Antón, Adrián Talavera, Loukia Spilani, Héctor Tejero-Cicuéndez, Pierre André-Crochet, Alberto Piris, Luis García-Cardenete, Salem Busais, Johannes Els, Mohamme 2023. Hidden in the sand: phylogenomics unravel an unexpected evolutionary history on the desert-adapted vipers of the genus Cerastes. bioRxiv 2023.10.03.560686 - get paper here
  • Mochales-Riaño, Gabriel; Samuel R. Hirst, Adrián Talavera, Bernat Burriel-Carranza, Viviana Pagone, Maria Estarellas, Theo Busschau, Stéphane Boissinot, Michael P. Hogan, Jordi Tena-Garcés, Davinia Pla, Juanjo J Calvete, Johannes Els, Mark J. Margres 2024. Chromosome-level reference genome for the medically important Arabian horned viper (Cerastes gasperettii) bioRxiv 2024.07.29.605543 - get paper here
  • Modrý, P., Rifai, L., Abu Baker, M. & Amr, Z. 2004. Amphibians and reptiles of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Denisia 14 (Neue Serie 2): 407-420 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Phelps, T. 2010. Old World Vipers. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 558 pp. [critical review in Sauria 33 (3): 19 and HR 43: 503]
  • Pouyani, N. R., Fathinia, B., & Rastegar-pouyani, E. 2021. Ecomorphological Study of Scales in Some Genera of the Viperid and Colubrid Snakes (Ophidia: Viperidae: Colubridae). Authorea Preprints - get paper here
  • Rajabizadeh, M. 2018. Snakes of Iran. [in Farsi] Tehran: Iranshenasi, 496 pp. [2017 ?] - get paper here
  • RASTEGAR-POUYANI, NASRULLAH; HAJI GHOLI KAMI, MEHDI RAJABZADEH, SOHEILA SHAFIEI AND STEVEN CLEMENT ANDERSON 2008. Annotated Checklist of Amphibians and Reptiles of Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics 4 (1): 7-30
  • Rhadi, Fadhel Aabbas;Rihab Ghaleb Mohammed, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani,Eskandar Rastegar-Pouyani, Seyyed Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani 2017. On the Snake Fauna of Central and Southern Iraq and Some Zoogeographic Remarks. Russ. J. Herpetol. 24 (4): 251-266 - get paper here
  • Schätti, B. & Gasperetti, J. 1994. A contribution to the herpetofauna of Southwest Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 14: 348-423
  • Schmid, A. 2014. Haltung und Nachzucht der Arabischen Hornviper (Cerastes gasperetii gasperettii). Reptilia (Münster) 19 (110): 46-50
  • Schmidt, D. & Kunz, K. 2005. Ernährung von Schlangen. Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster, 159 pp. - get paper here
  • Scholz, Sebastian; Bernd-Michael Zwanzig & R. Maharaja 2023. Nachweis dreier neuer Schlangenarten für das Al-Buraimi-Gouvernement im Oman. Sauria 45 (4): 49-52
  • Sindaco, R.; Alberto Venchi & Cristina Grieco 2013. The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic, Volume 2: Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, with an Update to Volume 1. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 543 pp. - get paper here
  • Sindaco, Roberto; Riccardo Nincheri, Benedetto Lanza 2014. Catalogue of Arabian reptiles in the collections of the “La Specola” Museum, Florence. Scripta Herpetologica. Studies on Amphibians and Reptiles in honour of Benedetto Lanza: pp. 137-164 - get paper here
  • Sivan, Naomi 1995. Two snake species added to the herpetofaunal list of Israel. Hardun 1995 (6): 13-23;82-81
  • Strauch, A. 1869. Synopsis der Viperiden nebst Bemerkungen über die geographische Verbreitung dieser Giftschlangen-Familie. Mem. Acad. imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg (7) 14 (6): 1-144 - get paper here
  • Stümpel, Nikolaus; Ulrich Joger 2009. Recent advances in phylogeny and taxonomy of Near and Middle Eastern Vipers – an update. ZooKeys 31: 179-191 - get paper here
  • van der Kooij, Jeroen 2001. The herpetofauna of the Sultanate of Oman: Part 4: The terrestrial snakes. Podarcis 2 (2): 54-65 - get paper here
  • Venchi, Alberto and Roberto Sindaco 2006. Annotated checklist of the reptiles of the Mediterranean countries, with keys to species identification. Part 2 -Snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes). Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale "G. Doria", Genova, XCVIII: 259-364
  • Wagner, Philipp & Thomas M. Wilms 2010. A crowned devil: new species of Cerastes Laurenti, 1768 (Ophidia, Viperidae) from Tunisia, with two nomenclatural comments. Bonn Zool. Bull. 57 (2): 297–306 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Werner, Y.L., N. Sivan, V. Kushnir & U. Motro. 1999. A statistical approach to variation in Cerastes (Ophidia: Viperidae) with the description of two endemic subspecies, In U. Joger. (ed.): Phylogeny and Systematics of the Viperidae. Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 83-97
  • Werner,Y.L. 1988. Herpetofaunal survey of Israel (1950-1985), with comments on Sinai and Jordan and on zoogeographical heterogeneity. in: Yom-Tov,Y. & Tchernov, E. (eds.) The zoogeography of Israel, Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht (Netherlands); ISBN 90-6193-650-0
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator