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Atheris chlorechis (PEL, 1852)

IUCN Red List - Atheris chlorechis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymVipera chlorechis PEL 1852: 172
Vipera chloroechis — SCHLEGEL 1855: 317
Toxicoa chloroechis — COPE 1859: 341
Echis chloroechis — JAN 1863: 122
Atheris polylepis PETERS 1864: 642
Atheris chlorechis — PETERS 1864: 645
Atheris chloroechis [sic] — BRISCOE 1949
Atheris squamiger chlorechis — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Atheris chloroechis [sic]— MATTISON 1995: 159
Atheris chlorechis — BROADLEY 1998: 125
Atheris chlorechis — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 355
Atheris chlorechis — RÖDEL & MAHSBERG 2000
Atheris chloroechis [sic] — MATTISON 2007: 161
Atheris chlorechis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 61
Atheris chlorechis — SENTER & CHIPPAUX 2022 
DistributionGuinea (Conakry), Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon

Type locality: Butre, Ghana (designated by HUGHES & BARRY 1969)  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesLectotype: RMNH 1648 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Habitus slender, body laterally compressed, with high ventral and subcaudal counts and a short square head. Dorsal head scales small to moderate, more or less keeled; rostral fragmented, so that a wide shallow rostral is surmounted by 2-8 suprarostrals between the nasals and below the transverse series of internasals that marks the beginning of the dorsal surface of the head; transverse dorsal scale rows with frequent duplications or fusions as one moves from ventrum to dorsum; subcaudals single. Palatine-pterygoid articulation a simple overlapping joint; intra-pulmonary bronchus short (Broadley 1998). 
CommentVenomous!

Type species: Vipera chlorechis PEL 1851 is the type species of the genus Atheris COPE 1862. Williams and Wallach 1989 list Toxicoa squamata COPE 1859 as the type species of the genus Atheris COPE 1862. See McDiarmid et al. 1999: 353 for a discussion of this issue.

Synonymy: Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic name Woolfvipera Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected its use instead of Atheris.

Habitat: trees (arboreal)

Phylogenetics: for a recent phylogeny of this and related Viperinae see Šmíd & Tolley 2019.

Key: Ceriaco et al. 2020 provide an updated key to all species of Atheris.

Distribution: probably Benin (Hughes 2013) 
EtymologyNamed after Greek “chloros” = green, fresh, and Greek “echis” = snake.

The genus name is from Greek “athér” for the ear of corn, or generally “tip”, referring to the pointed scales. ICZN Opinion 1634 (1991:84) states that Atheris is feminine, although Cope and others disagreed. 
References
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  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. A review of the genus Atheris Cope (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the description of a new species from Uganda. The Herpetological Journal 8: 117-135. - get paper here
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