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Echis pyramidum (GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE, 1827)

IUCN Red List - Echis pyramidum - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesEchis pyramidum pyramidum (GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1827)
Echis pyramidum leakeyi STEMMLER & SOCHUREK 1969 
Common NamesE: North-East African Carpet Viper, Egyptian Saw-scaled Viper 
SynonymScythale pyramidum GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1827: 152
Echis arenicola BOIE 1827
Echis pavo REUSS 1834: 157
Echis varia REUSS 1834: 160
Echis arenicola — STRAUCH 1868: 292
Echis carinatus pyramidum — IONIDES & PITMAN 1965
Echis carinatus pyramidum — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Echis varius darevskii CHERLIN 1990
Echis (Toxicoa) pyramidum lucidus CHERLIN 1990
Echis varius — LARGEN & RASMUSSEN 1993
Echis arenicola — fide DAVID & INEICH 1999
Echis pyramidum — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 380
Echis carinatus pyramidum — KHAN 2002 (pers. comm.)
Echis pyramidum — POOK et al. 2009
Echis arenicola — GRUBER 2009
Echis varius (pyramidum) — MAZUCH 2013
Echis pyramidum — WALLACH et al. 2014: 256
Echis varius — WALLACH et al. 2014: 256
Echis pyramidum — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 582

Echis pyramidum leakeyi STEMMLER & SOCHUREK 1969
Echis carinatus leakeyi STEMMLER & SOCHUREK 1969
Echis carinatus leakeyi — DREWES 1972
Echis carinatus aliaborri DREWES & SACHERER 1974 (fide POOK et al. 2009)
Echis pyramidum aliaborri — CHERLIN 1983
Echis varia aliaborri — CHERLIN 1990
Echis pyramidum aliaborri — GOLAY et al. 1993: 272
Echis pyramidum leakeyi — DAVID & INEICH 1999
Echis pyramidum leakeyi — OKUDA 2001
Echis pyramidum leakeyi — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Echis pyramidum aliaborri — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007 
DistributionKenya, Somalia, S Ethiopia, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Uganda, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Central African Republic,
Saudi Arabia (incl. Farasan Islands), Yemen

pyramidum: S/W-Arabian peninsula, Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Libya, Tunisia; Type locality: Egypt.

aliaborri: NE Kenya

leakeyi: Kenya, S Somalia, S Ethiopia; Type locality: Nord-Kenya, West-Ufer des Baringo-Sees, Campi ya Samaki, ca. 1000 m. Höhe.

borkini: SW Arabia, W Yemen; Type locality: Lahej near Aden.

darevskii: Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS)

lucidus: Egypt; Type-locality: "Egipet, Fayum" [= Egypt, Faiyum].  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 4031, according to Hughes (1976, Rev. Suisse ZooI. 83: 361).
Holotype: SMF 21058 [varia]
Holotype: NMBA (also as MBS) 17461, male; paratypes: NMW, MBS, SSW, SStR [leakeyi]
Holotype: USNM 134975 [lucidus] 
Diagnosis 
CommentVenomous!

Distribution: not in Pakistan fide KHAN 2006. Not in Oman (Carranza et al. 2018). For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013.

Taxonomy: Cerlin (1990) in a revision of the genus, splits E. pyramidum in many species or subspecies: E. p. pyramidum, E. p. lucidus, E. p. leakeyi, E. varius varius, E. v. darevskyi, E. v. borkini, E. v. aliaborri, E. hughesi and E. megalocephalus from N and E Africa, E. varius borkini and E. khosatzkii from SW Arabian peninsula. Golay et al. (1993) synonymize E. a. arenicola with E. pyramidum. According to McDiarmid et al. (1999) most of these forms are synonyms of E. pyramidum. POOK et al. (2009) consider E. khosatzkii and E. borkini as valid species, based on DNA sequence data. If E. khosatzkii and E. borkini are recognized then pyramidum has to be restricted to Africa. The status of varius has not been determined with certainty (Pook et al. 2009, Wallach et al. 2014: 256). 
References
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