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Bitis cornuta (DAUDIN, 1803)

IUCN Red List - Bitis cornuta - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Many-horned Adder
G: Büschelbrauenotter 
SynonymVipera cornuta DAUDIN 1803: 188
Vipera lophophris CUVIER 1829: 92
Vipera lophophrys — WAGLER 1830: 178
Cerastes cornuta — GRAY 1842: 70
Clotho cornuta — GRAY 1849: 27
Cerastes lophophrys — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1444
Bitis cornuta — BOULENGER 1896: 497
Cobra cornuta — MERTENS 1937
Bitis cornuta cornuta — BOGERT 1940: 102
Bitis cornuta cornuta — WELCH 1994: 27
Bitis (Calechidna) cornuta — LENK et al. 1999
Bitis cornuta — BRANCH 1999
Bitis cornuta — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 361
Bitis cornuta — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Bitis (Calechidna) cornuta — WITTENBERG et al. 2014
Bitis cornuta — WALLACH et al. 2014: 92
Bitis (Calechidna) cornuta — BARLOW et al. 2019 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa, Namibia

cornuta: W Cape Province north along the est coast into S Namibia as far north as Moeb Bay.

Type locality: Cape of Good Hope.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesTypes: iconotype, based on pI. 15 (facing page 120) in Paterson, 1790 (see discussion in McDiarmid et al. 1999) 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1149 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous! Bitis cornuta inornata and Bitis cornuta albanica have been elevated to species status. Synonymy after BRANCH 1999. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin cornutum = “horned”, for the striking horns on the head of this species. 
References
  • Baard, E.H.W.; Scott, A. 1990. Geographical Distribution - Bitis cornuta cornuta. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (37): 56-56 - get paper here
  • Barlow A, Wüster W, Kelly CMR, Branch WR, Phelps T, Tolley KA. 2019. Ancient habitat shifts and organismal diversification are decoupled in the African viper genus Bitis (Serpentes: Viperidae). J Biogeogr. 46: 1234– 1248 - get paper here
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Bauer, A.M., and Branch, W.R. 2003. The herpetofauna of the Richtersveld National Park, Northern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa. Herpetological Natural History 8: 111-160 [2001]
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Branch, W.R. 1999. Dwarf adders of the Bitis cornuta-inornata complex (Serptentes: Viperidae) in Southern Africa. Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 39-63
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Burger, M. 1992. Geographical Distribution - Bitis cornuta Complex. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (41): 39-39 - get paper here
  • Cuvier, G. J. L. N. F. D. 1829. Le Regne Animal Distribué, d'apres son Organisation, pur servir de base à l'Histoire naturelle des Animaux et d'introduction à l'Anatomie Comparé. Nouvelle Edition [second edition]. Vol. 2. Les Reptiles. Déterville, Paris, i-xvi, 1-406 - get paper here
  • Daudin, F. M. 1803. Histoire Naturelle Generale et Particuliere des Reptiles. Vol. 6. F. Dufart, Paris, 447 pp. - get paper here
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C., Bibron, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1842. Monographic Synopsis of the Vipers or the family Viperidae. Zoological Miscellany 2: 68-71 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1849. Catalogue of the specimens of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Edward Newman, London, i-xv; 1-125. - get paper here
  • Haacke, W.D. 1975. Description of a new adder (Viperidae, Reptilia) from Southern Africa, with a discussion of related forms. Cimbebasia (A) 4: 115-128
  • HEINICKE, M. P. & A. M. BAUER. 2018. A NEW PROVINCIAL RECORD AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY RECORDS OF REPTILES IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. African Herp News (67): 37 - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H. W.; Joger, U.; Lenk, P. & Wink, M. 1999. Morphological and molecular phylogenies of viperines: conflicting evidence? Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 21-30 - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Lenk,P.; Herrmann,H. W.; Joger,U. & Wink,M. 1999. Phylogeny and taxonomic subdivision of Bitis (Reptilia: Viperidae) based on molecular evidence. Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 31-38 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1936. African reptiles and amphibians in the Field Museum of Natural History. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Chicago, 22 (1): 1-122 - 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]
  • Mattison, Chris 2007. The New Encyclopedia of Snakes. Princeton University Press
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Phelps, T. 2010. Old World Vipers. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 558 pp. [critical review in Sauria 33 (3): 19 and HR 43: 503]
  • Schillert, A. 2016. The Portrait: Bitis cornuta (DAUDIN, 1803). Sauria 38 (2): 1 - 2 - get paper here
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2015. Reptilien Namibias. Namibia Scientific  Society, 276 pp.
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2020. Reptiles of Namibia. Kuiseb Publishers, Windhoek, Namibia, 271 pp.
  • Spawls, S., Branch, B. 2020. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Bloomsbury, London, 336 pp. - get paper here
  • Sternfeld, R. 1910. Zur Schlangenfauna Deutsch-Südwestafrikas. Mehrere Fälle von Mimikry bei afrikanischen Schlangen. Mitt. zool. Mus. Berlin, 5: 51-60 - get paper here
  • Tolley, K.A., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Weeber, J., Burger, M. & Alexander, G.J. (eds) 2023. Conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Suricata 10. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria
  • Wagler, Jean G. 1830. Natürliches System der Amphibien, mit vorangehender Classification der Säugetiere und Vögel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. 1.0. Cotta, München, Stuttgart, and Tübingen, 354 pp. [1830-1832] - 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.
  • Weima, André 2010. Picture: 0.1 Bitis cornuta. Litteratura Serpentium 30 (1): 48 - get paper here
  • Wittenberg, Rod D. & Robert C. Jadin & Allyson M. Fenwick & Ronald L. Gutberlet Jr. 2014. Recovering the evolutionary history of Africa’s most diverse viper genus: morphological and molecular phylogeny of Bitis (Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae). Org Divers Evol, DOI 10.1007/s13127-014-0185-3
 
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