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Echis omanensis BABOCSAY, 2004

IUCN Red List - Echis omanensis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Oman saw-scaled viper
G: Oman-Sandrasselotter 
SynonymEchis omanensis BABOCSAY 2004
Echis colorata — BOULENGER 1887:408
Echis coloratus — BOULENGER 1896: 507
Echis coloratus — ARNOLD & GALLAGHER 1977: 69
Echis coloratus — JOGER 1984: 46 (part.)
Echis coloratus — GASPERETTI 1988: 348
Echis froenatus — CHERLIN 1990: 203 (part.)
Echis omanensis — GARDNER 2004
Echis omanensis — DOBIEY 2005
Echis omanensis — POOK et al. 2009
Echis omanensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 256 
DistributionUnited Arab Emirates, E Oman

Type locality: Wadi as Siji, region of Masafi (25°18’ N, 56°10’ E), United Arab Emirates.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1973.2113 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Echis omanensis differs from E. coloratus (characteristics in parentheses: n=321) as follows: ventrals 184-194 (175-204) in males, 187-195 (175-210) in females; subcaudals 49-58 (45-56) in males. 48-56 (40—50) in females; nasal often fused with the upper prenasal (almost never); lower prenasal often missing (usually present); 6-10 scales between the chin-shield and the preventral (3.5-7.5); round or only slightly elongated gulars along the two sides of the midline of the throat (conspicuously elongated).
Echis omanensis differs from E. carinatus sochureki (characteristics in parentheses, data based on Gasperetti (1988). Table 13. p. 343.) as follows: ventrals 184-194 (154-166) in males, 187-195 (163-169) in females; subcaudals 49-58 (30-34) in males. 48-56 (27-33) in females; scale-rows between the eye and the supralabials 3.5-4.5 (1-2).


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CommentVenomous!

Taxonomy: Note that Echis froenatus DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL was suppressed by Opinion 1176 (ICZN 1981).

Definition: Echis omanensis has a longer tail with higher subcaudal counts; the lower prenasal scale is often missing and the upper prenasal is frequently fused with the nasal; the subnasal is often missing or fused with the nasal. The gular scales between the chin-shield and the preventrals are round or only slightly elongate, not elongate as in Echis coloratus, andtheir number is higher. Other differences in characters of the gular area indicate a different scale structure of the ventral surface of the head. The new species is allopatric or parapatric with E. coloratus, but sympatric with Echis carinatus sochureki.

Distribution: See map in Burriel-Carranza et al. 2019 for map in UAE. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013. 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
  • Arnold, E.N., & Gallagher, M.D. 1977. Reptiles and amphibians from the mountains of northern Oman. In: The scientific results of the Oman flora and fauna survey 1975. J. of Oman Stud. Spec. Rept. (no. 1): 59-80.
  • Babocsay, G. 2004. A new species of saw-scaled viper of the Echis coloratus complex (Ophidia: Viperidae) from Oman, Eastern Arabia. Systematics and Biodiversity 1 (4): 503–514 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1887. A list of the reptiles and batrachians obtained near Muscat, Arabia, and presented to the British Museum by Surgeon-Major A.S.G. Jayakar. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) 20: 407-408 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - 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
  • Burriel-Carranza, B., Els, J., & Carranza, S. 2022. Reptiles & amphibians of the Hajar Mountains CSIC, Barcino Solucions Gràfiques, SL, Barcelona, - 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
  • 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. 2005. Zwei neue Sandrasselottern. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (51): 14-15 - get paper here
  • Gardner, A.S. 2009. Mapping the terrestrial reptile distributions in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. ZooKeys 31: 165–177 - get paper here
  • Gardner, A.S. 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Oman and the UAE. Edition Chimaira, 480 pp.
  • Gardner, Drew. 2004. A new species of viper described from the UAE and northern Oman. Tribulus: Journal of the Emirates Natural History Group 14(2): 32 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Grossmann, W., T. Kowalski, B. M. ZWANZIG & H.-J. ZILGER 2012. Ergänzende herpetologische Beobachtungen auf dem Saiq-Plateau und im Jebel al-Akhdar, Sultanat Oman. Sauria 34 (4): 3-18 - get paper here
  • Grossmann, Wolfgang; Bernd-Michael Zwanzig, Thomas Kowalski & Hans-Jürgen Zilger 2013. Weitere ergänzende herpetologische Beobachtungen auf dem Saiq-Plateau und im Jebel al-Akhdar, Sultanat Oman. Sauria 35 (3): 23–31 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • 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]
  • Pook, Catharine E.; Ulrich Joger, Nikolaus Stümpel, Wolfgang Wüster 2009. When continents collide: Phylogeny, historical biogeography and systematics of the medically important viper genus Echis (Squamata: Serpentes: Viperidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53 (3): 792-807 - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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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