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Bitis armata (SMITH, 1826)

IUCN Red List - Bitis armata - Vulnerable, VU
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Southern Adder 
SynonymVipera armata SMITH 1826: 251
Vipera (Echidna) atropoides SMITH 1846
Bitis inornata BOULENGER 1896: 497
Bitis cornuta cornuta FITZSIMONS 1962: 348
Bitis cornuta inornata — UNDERWOOD 1968: 84
Bitis atropoides — BRANCH 1997: 37
Vipera armata — BRANCH 1999: 56
Bitis armata — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Bitis (Calechidna) armata — WITTENBERG et al. 2014
Bitis armata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 92
Bitis (Calechidna) armata — BARLOW et al. 2019 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa (SW Cape, from Langebaan National Park to De Hoop Nature Reserve)

Type locality: Koppe Alleen Road, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Western Cape Province, south Africa.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesNeotype: PEM R6796 (designated by BRANCH 1999) 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 773 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

SMITH 1826 designated no type and gave no distribution for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin arma = tool, weapon, and Latin armatus = armed. 
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. 1999. Dwarf adders of the Bitis cornuta-inornata complex (Serptentes: Viperidae) in Southern Africa. Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 39-63
  • Branch,W.R. 1997. A new adder (Bitis; Viperidae) from the Western Cape Province, South Africa. South African J Zoology 32 (2): 37 - get paper here
  • CONRADIE, WERNER; WILLIAM R. BRANCH, & GILLIAN WATSON 2019. Type specimens in the Port Elizabeth Museum, South Africa, including the historically important Albany Museum collection. Part 2: Reptiles (Squamata). Zootaxa 4576 (1): 001–045 - get paper here
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • FitzSimons, V. 1962. Snakes of Southern Africa. Purnell (Cape town & Johannesburg), 423 pp.
  • 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
  • Phelps, T. 2010. Old World Vipers. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 558 pp. [critical review in Sauria 33 (3): 19 and HR 43: 503]
  • Smith, A. 1846. Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa, Reptilia. Smith, Elder, and Co., London - get paper here
  • Smith,A. 1826. On the snakes of Southern Africa. Edinburgh New Philos. J. 1: 248-254
  • Spawls, S., Branch, B. 2020. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Bloomsbury, London, 336 pp. - get paper here
  • Tolley, K.A., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Weeber, J., Burger, M. & Alexander, G.J. (eds) 2023. Conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Suricata 10. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria
  • 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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