Gloydius halys (PALLAS, 1776)
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Gloydius halys
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Gloydius halys boehmei NILSON 1983 Gloydius halys halys (PALLAS 1776) Gloydius halys mogoi BOUR 1993 Gloydius halys ubsunurensis KROPACHEV & ORLOV 2017 |
| Common Names | E: Halys Pit Viper (halys: Siberian, boehmei: Böhme’s pitviper) G: Halys-Otter Russian: Обыкновенный щитомордник Chinese: 西伯利亚蝮 |
| Synonym | Coluber halys PALLAS 1776: 14 (Anhang) Trigonocephalus Halys — BOIE 1827 Halys halys — GRAY 1849 Trigonocephalus Halys — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1495 Trigonocephalus halys — STRAUCH 1868: 294 Ancistrodon halys — BOULENGER 1913 Agkistrodon halys — POPE 1935 Ancistrodon halys — SMITH 1943: 499 Agkistrodon halys — HARDING & WELCH 1980 Gloydius halys — HOGE & ROMANO-HOGE 1981 Agkistrodon halys halys — ORLOV & BARABANOV 1999 Gloydius halys — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 303 Gloydius halys — WALLACH et al. 2014: 310 Gloydius halys boehmei NILSON 1983 Gloydius halys boehmei — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004 Gloydius halys boehmei — DAVID & VOGEL 2015 Gloydius halys boehmei — WAGNER et al. 2015 Gloydius halys halys (PALLAS1776) Coluber halys PALLAS 1776 Agkistrodon halys halys — HARDING & WELCH 1980 Agkistrodon halys halys — WELCH 1994: 11 Gloydius halys halys — GUMPRECHT et al. 2004 Gloydius halys halys — DAVID & VOGEL 2015 Gloydius halys halys — WAGNER et al. 2015 Gloydius halys mogoi BOUR 1993 Gloydius halys mogoi BOUR 1993: 395 Gloydius halys mogoi — DAVID & VOGEL 2015 Gloydius halys ubsunurensis KROPACHEV & ORLOV 2017 Gloydius halys ubsunurensis KROPACHEV & ORLOV 2017 Ancistrodon intermedius – NIKOLSKY 1905: 326. Ancistrodon halys intermedius (Str.) – NIKOLSKY 1916: 276. Ancistrodon halys halys – TERENTJEV & CHERNOV 1949: 278 Ancistrodon halys – CAREVSKIJ 1930: 215 Ancistrodon halis – BANNIKOV 1958: 87 Agkistrodon halys – ORLOVA & TERBISH 1986: 105 Agkistrodon halys halys – OBST 1963: 368. Agkistrodon intermedius intermedius – GLOYD & CONANT 1990: 341 Agkistrodon halys mogoi – BOUR 1993: 335. Agkistrodon intermedius Strauch, 1868 – ANANJEVA et al. 1998: 531 |
| Distribution | China, N Iran, S/SW Russia, Kazakhstan (between Volga and Ural River), Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, E Afghanistan, Mongolia, Turkmenistan halys: N China, S Siberia, Mongolia; Type locality: Lower Volga River, Russia; "Salt Lake near the Lugaskoi Sawod [factory] on the Upper Yenisey” [Siberia, Russia], according to Gloyd and Conant, 1990:319. Redefined as Naryn or Ryn Peski desert, near the Russia-Kazakhstan border by Bour (1993: 335). Terra typica restricta. Lugaskoi Zavod (Strauch, 1873). Small salt lakes near Lugaskoi Zavod, Upper Yenisey River (= “Lugaskoi Zawod, oberes Jenissei Gebiet”) [ORLOV & BARABANOV 1999] boehmei: E Afghanistan; Type locality: Andarab valley, province of Baghlan, 2500 m elevation, east Afghanistan. mogoi: Mongolia, SE Russia (Siberia). Type locality: “Dunes de sable qui bordent la rivière Dzaphling-Gol, route d'Ouliassoutai à Kobdo, Mongolie”, c'est-à-dire dunes de sable qui bordent la rivière Dzavhan Gol, route de Hvod (Chovd, Djirgalanta) à Uliastaj (Djibkhalanta) (provinces de Hovd, Govialtaj et Dzavhan), d'où, probablement, région de Tayshir (46°40 N, 96°25 E ; ait. : ca. 1500 ml, Govialtaj, W. Mongolie. paramonovi (invalid): Uzbekistan; Type locality: “in montibus Tschimganensis altitudine 1500- 2500 m probe urbem Taschkent in Turkestano” (= mountains near Tashkent, Uzbekistan). ubsunurensis: W/S Mongolia / Tuva Republic, Russia. Type locality: Hoolu river, [Tes-Khemsky District], Tuva Republic, Russia. |
| Reproduction | Viviparous |
| Types | Neotype: ZISP 14784. Borgaiskaya steep, 84 km W from Kyakhta town, Burin-Khan mountain. Leg.: P. S. Mikhno, July 20, 1930 (designated by Orlov and Barabanov 2000). Holotype: ZFMK 8648 [boehmei] Holotype. ZMMU 6153.1, adult female; coll.: E.E. Syroechkovsky, 07.1959 (Fig. 2, 3) [ubsunurensis] Holotype: MNHN-RA 1933.0310, adult female, collected 1909; paratype: MNHN 1933.0311, adult male [mogoi] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): “Einzige Gattung der Grubenottern (Crotalinae) in Europa; erreicht mit der Art G. halys knapp europäisches Territorium in der Kaspischen Tiefebene (Kasachstan). Leicht erkennbar an der Lorealgrube zwischen Auge und Nasenloch, in welcher sich das Grubenorgan, ein Infrarot-Strahlungsrezeptor, befindet.” (Joger 2005) Additional details (4665 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Venomous! Distribution: see maps in ORLOV & BARABANOV 1999. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013. Shi et al. 2021 have localities of most gloydius in their Fig. 6. In Iran fide Sindaco et al. 2013, but not listed by Kamali 2020. For a map of localities see Shi et al. 2021: 102 (Fig. 6) Subspecies: Agkistrodon halys ussuriensis and other subspecies have been elevated to full species status. G. h. liupanensis has been elevated to full species status by Xu et al. 2012. Gloydius halys caucasicus (NIKOLSKY 1916) has been elevated to full species status by Asadi et al. 2019. While ASADI et al. provide a phylogenetic analysis of the species complex, they do not comment on or mention the status of boehmei, mogoi, or ubsunurensis. Synonymy: The status of Trigonocephalus affinis GRAY 1849 remains unclear. MCDIARMID et al. 1999 list it as synonym of G. blomhoffi, which is followed by Orlov et al. 2014. GUMPRECHT et al. (2004) do not recognize the subspecies liupanensis, mogoi, and affinis. Zhao 2006 listed Gloydius halys cognatus, liupanensis, qinlingensis, and stejnegeri as synonyms of either G. strauchi or G. intermedius. Type species: Trigonocephalus Halys (BOIE 1827) is the type species of the genus Gloydius HOGE & ROMANO-HOGE 1981, a replacement name for Halys GRAY 1849, which is pre-occupied by Halys FABRICIUS 1803 (Hemiptera). See also MCDIARMID et al. 1999 for further discussion. Type specimens: Not located (fide MCDIARMID et al. 1999). Activity Pattern. Diurnal and night. NCBI taxon ID: 8719 [halys] Comparisons: for a table of morphological characters across Gloydius see Shi et al. 2021. |
| Etymology | Pallas does not explain the origin of the species name; Halys was the name of a river in Turkey but the species does not occur there, hence the origin remains uncertain. Gotch 1986 claims that the name is from Greek halusis = chain, a reference to the chain-like pattern along the back. G. h. mogoi “est un nom vernaculaire, donné aux serpents par les Mongols, fide PALLAS (1814 : 49, ‘Mogoi’) et OBST (1963 : 370, ‘mogoj’) ; il est utilisé en apposition.” (Bour 1993) The genus has been named after Howard Kay Gloyd (1902-1978), American herpetologist. The name of G. h. ubsunurensis is derived from the name of the Ubsunur Hollow which is located in the south of Tuva (Russia) and north-western Mongolia. |
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