Echis pyramidum (GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE, 1827)

Find more photos by Google images search:

Higher Taxa	Viperidae, Viperinae, Serpentes (snakes)
Subspecies	Echis pyramidum pyramidum (GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1827) Echis pyramidum leakeyi STEMMLER & SOCHUREK 1969 Echis pyramidum lucidus CHERLIN 1990
Common Names	North-East African Carpet Viper, Egyptian Saw-scaled Viper
Synonym	Scytale pyramidum GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1827: 152 Echis varia REUSS 1834 Echis carinatus pyramidum - IONIDES & PITMAN 1965 Echis carinatus pyramidum — HARDING & WELCH 1980 Echis varius darevskii CHERLIN 1990 Echis arenicola — fide DAVID & INEICH 1999 Echis pyramidum — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 380 Echis carinatus pyramidum — KHAN 2002 (pers. comm.) 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 — OKUDA 2001 Echis pyramidum leakeyi — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007 Echis pyramidum aliaborri — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Distribution	Kenya, Somalia, S Ethiopia, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic, Saudi Arabia (incl. Farasan Islands), Oman, Yemen pyramidum: S/W-Arabian peninsula, Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia; Type locality: Egypt. aliaborri: NE Kenya leakeyi: Kenya, S Somalia, S Ethiopia borkini: SW Arabia, W Yemen; Type locality: Lahej near Aden. darevskii: Sudan Map legend: - 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.
Types
Comment	Venomous! Distribution: not in Pakistan fide KHAN 2006. 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 Stemmler & Sochurek, 1969, E. varius varius Reuss, 1934, E. v. darevskyi, E. v. borkini, E. v. aliaborri Drewes & Sacherer, 1974, 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. Reproduction: oviparous.
References	Arnold, E. Nicholas; Michael D. Robinson, Salvador Carranza 2009. A preliminary analysis of phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of the dangerously venomous Carpet Vipers, Echis (Squamata, Serpentes, Viperidae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequences Amphibia-Reptilia 30 (2009): 273-282 - get paper here Broadley, D.G. 1994. A collection of snakes from eastern Sudan, with the description of a new species of Telescopus Wagler, 1830 (Reptilia: Ophidia). Journal of African Zoology 108 (2): 201-208. Cherlin V A; Borkin L J 1990. Taxonomic revision of the snake genus Echis (Viperidae). 1. An analysis of the history of study and synonymy. TRUDY ZOOLOGICHESKOGO INSTITUTA 207: 175-192, 234. Cherlin,V.A. 1983. Vestn. Zool. (Kiev) 1983: 42-46 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 Chirio, Laurent and Ivan Ineich 2006. Biogeography of the reptiles of the Central African Republic. African Journal of Herpetology 55(1):23-59. - get paper here CUNNINGHAM, P. 2009. A contribution to the reptiles of the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia Afr. Herp News (50): 21-24 David,P. & Vogel,G. 2010. Venomous Snakes of Europe, Northern, Central and Western Asia (TERRALOG 16) (English and German Edition). Edition Chimaira, 160 pp. Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa/Giftschlangen Afrikas. Terralog 15, Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, 150 pp. Drewes, R. C.; Sacherer, J. M. 1974. A new population of Carpet Vipers Echis carinatus from northern Kenya. Journal of the East African Natural History Society and National Museum (145): 1-7 Drewes, R.C. 1972. Report on a collection of reptiles and amphibians from the Ilemi Triangle, Southwestern Sudan. Occ. Pap. Cal. Acad. Sci. (100): 1-14 - get paper here Duff-Mackay, A. 1965. Notes on the biology of the carpet viper, Echis carinatus pyramidum (Geoffroy), in the northern frontier province of Kenya J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc. 25 (1): 28-40 Egan, D. 2007. Snakes of Arabia. Motivate Publishing, Dubai, 208 pp. Geoffroy, l. 1827. Reptiles. In: Savigny, M. J. C. L. de, Description d’Égypte... Vol. l. Histoire Naturelle. Paris, pp. 121-160 (115-184) [1809?] Ionides, CJ.P. & C.R.S. PITMAN 1965. Notes on two East-African venomous snake populations: Echis carinatus pyramidium (Geoffroy), Egyptian Saw-Scaled Viper and Vipera hindii Boulenger, Montane Viper. J. E. Afr. nat. Hist. Soc. natn. Mus. 25 (2-111): 116-121. Khan, M.S. 1983. Venomous terrestrial snakes of Pakistan The Snake 15 (2): 101-105. Khan, M.S. 2006. Amphibians and reptiles of Pakistan. Krieger, Malabar, 311 pp. Lanza, B. 1990. Amphibians and reptiles of the Somali Democratic Republic: check list and biogeography. Biogeographia, 14: 407-465 [1988] Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 694 pp. Largen,M.J. & Rasmussen,J.B. 1993. Catalogue of the snakes of Ethiopia (Reptilia Serpentes), including identification keys. Tropical Zoology 6: 313-434 Le Berre,L.M. 1989. Faune du Sahara 1. Poissons, Amphibiens, Reptiles. Lechevalier, R. Chabaud, Paris, 332 pp. Lehmann,M. 1980. Haltung und Nachzucht von Echis carinatus leakeyi x Echis coloratus. Herpetofauna 2 (4): 32-34 - get paper here 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. Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp. Okuda, Daiju; Chihiro Nozaki, Fujio Sekiya, and Takashi Morita 2001. Comparative Biochemistry of Disintegrins Isolated from Snake Venom: Consideration of the Taxonomy and Geographical Distribution of Snakes in the Genus Echis. J. Biochem. 129: 615-620 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 Schleich,H.H., Kästle,W., Kabisch, K. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koeltz, Koenigstein, 627 pp. Smith, H. M.; Gloyd, H. K. 1964. Nomenclatural notes on the snake names Scytale, Boa scytale, and Agkistrodon mokasen Herpetologica 19 (4): 280-282 - get paper here Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2001. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] Stemmler & SOCHUREK 1969. Die Sandrasselotter von Kenya: Echis carinatus leakeyi subsp. nov. Aquaterra 6 (8): 89-94 van der Kooij, Jeroen 2001. The herpetofauna of the Sultanate of Oman: Part 4: The terrestrial snakes. Podarcis 2 (2): 54-64
External links	IUCN Red List - Echis pyramidum - Least Concern, LC Google images Profile of Echis pyramidum on Reptarium

Is it interesting? Share with others:

Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator