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Atheris barbouri LOVERIDGE, 1930

IUCN Red List - Atheris barbouri - Vulnerable, VU
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Uzungwe Mountain Bush Viper 
SynonymAtheris barbouri LOVERIDGE 1930: 107
Adenorhinos barbouri — MARX & RABB 1965
Adenorhinos barbouri — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 22
Adenorhinos barbouri — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 353
Atheris barbouri — LENK et al. 2001
Adenorhinos barbouri — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Adenorhinos barbouri — PHELPS 2010
Atheris barbouri — MENEGON et al. 2011
Atheris barbouri — WALLACH et al. 2014: 61
Atheris barbouri — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 585
Adenorhinus barbouri — WALLACH 2025 
DistributionS Tanzania (Udzungwa and Ukinga Mountains)

Type locality: “Dabaga, Uzungwa Mountains, southeast of Iringa, Tanganyika Territory” [= Tanzania]  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ 29055 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus Adenorhinos): “Generic diagnosis: Dorsal head shields small and keeled, one anterior and one posterior smooth temporal; suprarostral separated from nasals by nasorostrals; concave depression in posterior area of nasal shield (Figure 6), with a subcutaneous nasal gland; no duplication of dorsal scale rows; ectopterygoid with a lateral flange bearing a medial anterior process (Figure 3); palatine-pterygoid articulation an overlapping joint; no loreals; subcaudals single.” (Broadley 1996)


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CommentVenomous!

Atheris barbouri Loveridge, 1930 is a small heavy-bodied snake, with a short, blunt head, lacking the prehensile tail;

Conservation: probably one of the world’s least known snakes. The eight specimens originally collected have been the only ones known for over 65 years, until Rasmussen & Howell (1998) published a review of the species based on a further 13 specimens collected by local residents in the Southern Udzungwa Mountains. 
EtymologyNamed after Thomas Barbour (1884-1946), Associate Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians (1923), and, later, Director (1927) of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. See DUNN (1946) for an obituary. 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1996. A review of the tribe Atherini (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the descriptions of two new genera. African Journal of Herpetology 45: 40-48. - get paper here
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • Dunn, E.R. 1946. Thomas Barbour, 1884 - 1946. Copeia 1946 (1): 1-3 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Lenk, P.; Kalyabina, S.; Wink, M.; Joger, U. 2001. Evolutionary relationships among the true vipers (Reptilia: Viperidae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 19(1):94-104 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, Arthur 1946. Thomas Barbour, Herpetologist: 1884-1946. Herpetologica 3 (2): 33-39 - get paper here
  • Loveridge,A. 1930. Preliminary description of a new tree viper of the genus Atheris from Tanganyika Territory. Proc. New England Zool. Club 11: 107-108
  • Loveridge,A. 1933. Reports on the scientific Results of an Expedition to the Southwestem Highlands of Tanganyika Territory. VII. Herpetology. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 74: 197-415 - get paper here
  • Lyakurwa, J.V., Howell, K.M., Munishi, L.K., Treydte, A.C. 2019. Uzungwa Scarp Nature Forest Reserve; a unique hotspot for reptiles in Tanzania. Acta Herpetologica 14 (1): 3-14 - 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]
  • Marx, H. & G.B. RABB 1965. Relationships and zoogeography of the viperine snakes (Family Viperidae). Fieldiana: Zoology 44 (21): 161-206 - get paper here
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Menegon, M.; Loader, S.P.; Marsden, S.J.; Branch, W.R.; Davenport, T.R.B. & Ursenbacher, S. 2014. The genus Atheris (Serpentes: Viperidae) in East Africa: Phylogeny and the role of rifting and climate in shaping the current pattern of species diversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 79: 12-22 - get paper here
  • MENEGON, MICHELE; TIM R.B. DAVENPORT & KIM M. HOWELL 2011. Description of a new and critically endangered species of Atheris (Serpentes: Viperidae) from the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, with an overview of the country’s tree viper fauna. Zootaxa 3120: 43–54 - get paper here
  • 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]
  • Rasmussen, Jens B. and Kim M. Howell 1999. A review of Barbour's short-headed viper, Adenorhinos barbouri (Serpentes: Viperidae). African Journal of Herpetology 47 (2): 69-75 [1998] - get paper here
  • Rasmussen, Jens B.;Howell, Kim M. 1999. A review of Barbour's short-headed viper, Adenorhinos barbouri (Serpentes: Viperidae). African Journal of Herpetology 47 (2): 69-75 [1998] - get paper here
  • Rovero, F., Menegon, M., Fjeldså, J., Collett, L., Doggart, N., Leonard, C., Norton, G., Owen, N., Perkin, A., Spitale, D., Ahrends, A., Burgess, N. D. 2014. Targeted vertebrate surveys enhance the faunal importance and improve explanatory models within the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania. Diversity and Distributions. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12246 - get paper here
  • Spawls, S., Branch, B. 2020. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Bloomsbury, London, 336 pp. - get paper here
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 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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