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Cerastes vipera (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Cerastes vipera - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Serpentes (snakes) 
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sahara Sand Viper
G: Avicennaviper 
SynonymColuber Vipera LINNAEUS 1758: 216
Vipera aegyptiaca DAUDIN 1803
Cerastes richiei GRAY 1842
? Cerastes Aegyptiacus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1440
Vipera avicennae JAN 1859
Cerastes vipera — BOULENGER 1891
Cerastes vipera inornatus WERNER 1929 (fide MCDIARMID et al. 1999)
Aspis vipera — SAINT GIRONS 1956
Cerastes vipera — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Cerastes vipera — WELCH 1994: 43
Cerastes vipera — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 369
Vipera cerastes — SCHMIDT 2003
Cerastes vipera — VENCHI & SINDACO 2006 
DistributionEgypt (Sinai), Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Western Sahara,
Israel

Type locality: “Aegypto” Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it.
 
TypesHolotype: NRM (NHRM) 99. 
CommentVenomous! Reports from Lebanon are most likely in error (JOGER 1984)

Size: maximum size under 50 cm with an average about 35 cm.

Reproduction: viviparous. 
References
  • Abo-Eleneen, Rasha E. and Ahmed A. Allam 2011. Comparative Morphology of the Skin of Natrix tessellata (Family: Colubridae) and Cerastes vipera (Family: Viperidae). Zoological Science 28 (10): 743-748. - get paper here
  • Aprea, Gennaro; Gentilli, Augusto;<br />Zuffi, Marco A.L.; Odierna, Gaetano 2006. The karyology of Vipera aspis, V. atra, V. hugyi, and Cerastes vipera. Amphibia-Reptilia 27 (1): 113-119 - get paper here
  • Bar, Aviad and Guy Haimovitch 2012. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Israel. Pazbar LTD, 2012 pp. - get paper here
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1993. STANDARDIZED CRITERIA FOR THE RECOGNITION OF REPRODUCTIVE MODES IN SQUAMATE REPTILES. Herpetologica 49 (1): 118-132 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1891. Catalogue of the reptiles and batrachians of Barbary (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), based chiefly upon the notes and collections made in 1880-1884 by M. Fernand Lataste. Tr. Zool. Soc. 13: 93-164
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa/Giftschlangen Afrikas. Terralog 15, Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, 150 pp.
  • 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
  • Friedrich, U. 2007. Lebendfutter für Amphibien und Reptilien - Geschichte und Grundlagen. Draco 7 (28): 4-21 [2006] [Sonderheft Lebendfutter] - get paper here
  • Geniez, P.; Mateo, J.A.; Geniez, M. & Pether, J. 2004. The amphibians and reptiles of the Western Sahara (former Spanish Sahara) and adjacent regions. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 228 pp. [reviewed in Reptilia GB 44: 81]
  • Joger, U. 1984. The venomous snakes of the Near and Middle East. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, A 12. Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden.
  • Johann, H. 1981. Herpetologische Eindrücke auf einer Reise durch die Sahara. Herpetofauna 3 (13): 17-21 - get paper here
  • Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiæ. 10th Edition: 824 pp.
  • 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]
  • Marx,H. 1958. Sexual dimorphism in coloration in the viper Cerastes vipera L. Nat. Hist. Misc. 164: 1-2.
  • McDiarmid,R.W.; Campbell,J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Padial, J. M. 2006. COMMENTED DISTRIBUTIONAL LIST OF THE REPTILES OF MAURITANIA (WEST AFRICA). Graellsia, 62(2): 159-178
  • Phelps, T. 2010. Old World Vipers. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 558 pp. [critical review in Sauria 33 (3): 19 and HR 43: 503]
  • Schleich,H.H., Kästle,W., Kabisch, K. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koeltz, Koenigstein, 627 pp.
  • Schmidt, D. 2003. Avicennaviper. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (42): 91 - get paper here
  • Schnurrenberger, H. 1959. Observations on Behavior in Two Libyan Species of Viperine Snakes. Herpetologica 15 (2): 70-72 - get paper here
  • Sivan, Jaim; Michael Kam, Shlomo Hadad, A. Allan Degen, Israel Rozenboim, Avi Rosenstrauch 2013. Temporal activity and dietary selection in two coexisting desert snakes, the Saharan sand viper (Cerastes vipera) and the crowned leafnose (Lytorhynchus diadema). Zoology - get paper here
  • Smetsers, Peet 1997. De Avicena-adder, Cerastes vipera Het Terrarium 14 (12): 7-10
  • Sochurek,E. 1979. Die Schlangen Nordafrikas. Mitt. Zool. Ges. Braunau 3 (8/9): 219-226
  • Spawls, S., Branch,B. 1995. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Blandford, London, 192 pp.
  • Strauch, A. 1862. Essai d’une erpétologie de l’Algérie. Mémoires de l’Academie Impériale des Sciences de St. -Pétersbourg, 4:1-85
  • Trape, J.-F. & Mane, Y. 2006. Guide des serpents d’Afrique occidentale. Savane et désert. [Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger]. IRD Editions, Paris, 226 pp.
  • van der Goot, Rolf 1996. Cerastes vipera, the Sahara sand viper (Linnaeus, 1758) Litteratura Serpentium 16 (1): 6-9
  • 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
  • Zulueta, A. de 1909. Nota sobre reptiles de Cabo Juby (N.W. de Africa). Bol. Real Sociedad Esp. Hist. Nat. 9: 354-355
 
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