You are here » home › search results › Montivipera xanthina

Montivipera xanthina (GRAY, 1849)

IUCN Red List - Montivipera xanthina - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Montivipera xanthina?

Add your own observation of
Montivipera xanthina »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesMontivipera xanthina xanthina (GRAY 1849)
Montivipera xanthina nilsoni CATTANEO 2014
Montivipera xanthina dianae CATTANEO 2014
Montivipera xanthina occidentalis CATTANEO 2017
Montivipera xanthina varoli AFSAR, YAKIN, ÇİÇEK & AYAZ 2019 
Common NamesE: Coastal Viper, Ottoman Viper
G: (Kleinasiatische oder Türkische) Bergotter 
SynonymDaboia xanthina GRAY 1849: 24
Vipera xanthina — STRAUCH 1868: 291
Daboia xanthina — ENGELMANN et al. 1993
Vipera xanthina — WELCH 1994: 123
Vipera (Montivipera) xanthina — NILSON et al. 1999: 101
Vipera xanthina — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 412
Montivipera xanthina — NILSON et al. 1999
Montivipera xanthina — GARRIGUES et al. 2005
Montivipera xanthina — STÜMPEL & TRAPP 2006
Vipera (Montivipera) xanthina — VENCHI & SINDACO 2006
Montivipera xanthina — TRAPP 2007
Daboia xanthina — GAULKE 2008
Montivipera xanthina — ARIKAN et al. 2008
Montivipera xanthina — WALLACH et al. 2014: 459

Montivipera xanthina nilsoni CATTANEO 2014
Montivipera xanthina nilsoni — AFSAR, YAKIN, ÇİÇEK & AYAZ 2019

Montivipera xanthina dianae CATTANEO 2014
Montivipera xanthina dianae — AFSAR, YAKIN, ÇİÇEK & AYAZ 2019

Montivipera xanthina occidentalis CATTANEO 2017
Montivipera xanthina occidentalis — AFSAR, YAKIN, ÇİÇEK & AYAZ 2019

Montivipera xanthina varoli AFSAR, YAKIN, ÇİÇEK & AYAZ 2019 
DistributionW Turkey,
Greece (NE Makri, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Patmos, Lipsi, Leros, Kalymnos, Symi, Chalki),
Elevation up to 3000 m.

dianae: Greece (Island of Leros)

nilsoni: Greece (Island of Leros)

occidentalis: Greece (Rhodopes); Type locality: “Tracia greca centrale, Regione dei Rodopi, località Proskinites, 121 m s.l.m.”

varoli: S Turkey (Antalya); Type locality: Mühür Dağ on western of Geyik Mountains, Gündoğmuş, Antalya, Turkey 1601 m. a.s.l.

Type locality: Xanthus, SW Turkey  
Reproduction(ovo-) viparous. Experimental hybridizations between M. wagneri and M. xanthina result in fertile offspring (Stümpel et al. 2016). 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.1.18.11 (formerly BMNH ii.1.3a, Xanthos), designated by Nilson and Andren, 1986: 63. Paralectotype: BMNH 1946.1.20.93 (Asia Minor).
Holotype: MCZR (originally as MCZRVR/02359, Museo Civico di Zoologia, Roma), adult male, ; isola greca di Leros, località Ag. Petros, c. 110 m s.l.m. (Dodecaneso); A. Cattaneo leg., 22/05/2007 (trovato morto) [dianae]
Holotype: MCZR (originally as MCZRVR 02358, Museo Civico di Zoologia, Roma), adult male; isola greca di Chios, località Dafnonas, c. 220 m s.l.m. (Mar Egeo orientale), A. Vesci leg., 11/05/2001 (trovato morto) [nilsoni]
Holotype: ZFMK 101040 (paper says that types will be transferred to ZFMK; paper cites private collection: MX/TR20/5 C.C. = Collezione Erpetologica Augusto Cattaneo, Roma); adult male, A. Cattaneo legit (trovato morto), 06/05/2015. Farà parte della Collezione Erpetologica del Museo Alexander Koenig (Bonn) [occidentalis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): “Mittelgroße, kräftige Vipern (unter den europäischen Arten die zweitgrößte nach Macrovipera lebetina) mit fast immer 23 Reihen von Dorsalschuppen, vollkommen fragmentierten Kopfschuppen, jedoch großen, ungeteilten Supraocularschildern. 2 Apicalia in Kontakt mit Nasalia. Nasalia und Pränasalia (Nasorostralia) verschmolzen. Doppelte Reihe Subocularia. 27 bis 36 (♀♀) bzw. 32 bis 38 (♂♂) geteilte Subcaudalia. Kontrastreiche Dorsalzeichnung, schwach ausgeprägter Sexualdimorphismus in der Färbung. Vivipar.” (after NILSON et al. 1999, in Joger 2005: 61)


Additional details (2969 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Subspecies: Vipera bornmuelleri has been considered as a subspecies of V. xanthina but is now considered as a valid species. M. xanthina appears to constitute a cryptic species complex with three or four new taxa (Stümpel et al. 2016).

Synonymy: The new subspecies (nilsoni, dianae, and occidentalis) may be synonyms of M. xanthina (Wolfgang Wüster, pers. comm., 21 Oct 2017). In fact, the descriptions do not include any phylogenetic or molecular data and there is broad overlap of meristic characters across the subspecies (Table 4 in Cattaneo 2017).

Type species: Daboia xanthina GRAY 1849: 24 is the type species of the genus Montivipera NILSON et al. 1999.

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

Distribution: for a map with localities in Turkey see Mebert et al. 2020: 172 (Fig. 2) and 180 (Fig. 11). For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013. Not in the Middle East (Syria) fide IUCN assessment. 
EtymologyApparently named after Greek xanthos = yellow, brownish, blond, for the color of the species.
Montivipera xanthina nilsoni has been named after Prof. Dr. Göran Nilson (Göteborg).
M. x. dianae has been named after the Greek goddess Diana; a sanctuary dedicated to her was found near its type locality on the island of Leros.
M. x. occidentalis was named after its type locality, which is in the westernmost territory inhabited by this subspecies.
M. x. varoli was named in honor of Prof. Dr. Cemal Varol TOK who made valuable contributions to Turkish Herpetofauna and also the word “var’ol” is a verb that means “to exist, to stay alive, to be in existence”. 
References
  • Afsar, Murat; Batuhan Y. Yakin, Kerim Çiçek, Dinçer Ayaz 2019. A new subspecies of Ottoman viper, Montivipera xanthina (Gray, 1849), (Squamata: Viperidae) from Geyik Mountains, Mediterranean Turkey. Ecologica Montenegrina 22: 214-225 - get paper here
  • Akman, B., Çakmak, M., & Yıldız, M.Z. 2020. On the Herpetofauna of the Central Anatolian Province of Kırıkkale (Turkey) (Amphibia; Reptilia). Acta Biologica Turcica, 33(2): 70-79
  • Arıkan, H., Göçmen, B., Kumlutaş, Y., Alpagut-Keskin, N., Ilgaz, Ç & Yıldız, M.Z. 2008. Electrophoretic characterisation of the venom samples obtained from various Anatolian snakes (Serpentes: Colubridae, Viperidae, Elapidae). North-Western Journal of Zoology 4 (1): 16-28 - get paper here
  • Arıkan, Hüseyin; Yusuf Kumlutas, Öguz Türkozan, Ibrahim Baran, Çetin Ilgaz 2004. The morphology and size of blood cells of some viperid snakes from Turkey. Amphibia-Reptilia 25 (4): 465-470 - get paper here
  • Arslan, Dilara; Anthony Oliver, Çağdaş Yaşar, İlhan Bayryam Ismail, Ömer Döndüren, Lisa Ernoul, Nicolas Beck, Kerim Çiçek 2018. Distribution and current status of herpetofauna in the Gediz Delta (Western Anatolia, Turkey). Herpetology Notes 11: 1-15 - get paper here
  • Bamann, Thomas; Ines Aust und Dominik Hauser 2021. Quer übers griechische Festland auf Vipernsuche im Corona-Sommer. Elaphe 2021 (2): 26-37
  • Bettex, F. 1993. Beobachtungen an Vipera bulgardaghia, Vipera albizona und Vipera xanthina im Freiland und im Terrarium. Herpetofauna 15 (86): 21-26 - get paper here
  • BODSON, Liliane 2009. L’interprétation des noms grecs et latins d’animaux illustrée par le cas du zoonyme seps-seps. Académie Royale de Belgique, Bruxelles, 368 pp.
  • Boettger, O. [as O. Böttger] 1880. Die Reptilien und Amphibien von Syrien, Palaestina und Cypern. Ber. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., Frankfurt/M., 1879-1880: 132-219 - get paper here
  • Bozkurt, E., Ürker, O., & Elverici, M. 2022. An assessment of the herpetofauna of the Oriental Sweetgum forests in southwestern Anatolia, Turkey. Phyllomedusa 21(2): 125-139 - get paper here
  • Cattaneo, A. 2014. VARIABILITÀ E SOTTOSPECIE DI MONTIVIPERA XANTHINA (GRAY, 1849) NELLE ISOLE EGEE ORIENTALI (Reptilia Serpentes Viperidae). Naturalista sicil., S. IV, XXXVIII (1): 51-83 - get paper here
  • Cattaneo, Augusto; Cristina Cattaneo & Mauro Grano 2020. Update on the herpetofauna of the Dodecanese Archipelago (Greece). Biodiversity Journal 11 (1): 69–84 - get paper here
  • Clark, Richard 2000. Herpetological notes on the islands of Lipsi and Agathonisi, Dodecanse, Greece. Herpetological Bulletin (74): 6-7. - get paper here
  • David,P. & Ineich,I. 1999. Les serpents venimeux du monde: systématique et répartition. Dumerilia 3: 3-499
  • Edelman, M. & Frank, R. 2007. Herpetologische waarnemingen op Lesbos (Griekenland). Lacerta 65 (1): 4-15 - get paper here
  • Engelmann, W.E. et al. 1993. Lurche und Kriechtiere Europas. Neumann Verlag (Radebeul, Germany), 440 pp.
  • Farooq, H., Uetz, P. 2021. Can we identify European snakes by color patterns? Salamandra 57 (4): 520–528 - get paper here
  • Gärdenfors, U. 1980. Ein Nachweis von Vipera xanthina in Griechenland (Reptilia: Serpentes: Viperidae). Salamandra 16 (4): 270 - get paper here
  • Garrigues, Thomas; Catherine Dauga; Elisabeth Ferquel; Valérie Choumet and Anna-Bella Failloux 2005. Molecular phylogeny of Vipera Laurenti, 1768 and the related genera Macrovipera (Reuss, 1927) and Daboia (Gray, 1842), with comments about neurotoxic Vipera aspis aspis populations. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution <br>Volume 35 (1): 35-47 - get paper here
  • Gaulke, M. 2008. Der Avilon Montalban Zoological Park, Philippinen. Reptilia (Münster) 13 (69): 76-81 - get paper here
  • Geniez, Philippe 2018. Snakes of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Princeton University Press, 384 pp. - get paper here
  • Glandt, Dieter;Schlüpmann, Martin;Thiesmeier, Burkhard 1998. Herpetologische Beobachtungen in der Algarve, Südportugal. Zeitschrift für Feldherpetologie 5: 181-208 - 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
  • Gruber, U. 2009. Die Schlangen Europas, 2. Aufl. Kosmos Naturführer, 266 pp.
  • 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
  • Jablonski, Daniel; David Jandzik; Peter Mikulíček, Georg Džukić, Katarina Ljubisavljević, Nikolay Tzankov, Dušan Jelić, Evanthia Thanou, Jiří Moravec and Václav Gvoždík 2016. Contrasting evolutionary histories of the legless lizards slow worms (Anguis) shaped by the topography of the Balkan Peninsula. BMC Evolutionary Biology 16:99; DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0669-1 - get paper here
  • Joger, U. 2005. Montivipera Nilson, Tuniyev, Andrén, Orlov, Joger und Herrmann, 1999. In: Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. - Band 3/IIB: Schlangen (Serpentes) III - Viperidae. Aula-Verlag, Wiebelsheim: 61-62
  • Kabisch, Klaus 2013. Legende oder Wahrheit? Giftschlangen – eine biologische Waffe Hannibals Sekretär 13 (1): - get paper here
  • Kasapidis, Panagiotis;Provatidou, Sofia;Maragou, Panagiota;Valakos, Efstratios D. 1996. Neue Daten über die Herpetofauna von Lesbos (ägäische Inseln, Griechenland) und einige biogeographische Bemerkungen über die Inseln des nordöstlichen ägäischen Archipels. Salamandra 32 (3): 171-180 - get paper here
  • KUMLUTAS, Y.;MEHMET ÖZ, M. RIZVAN TUNÇ, YAKUP KASKA, ADEM ÖZDEMIR & SERDAR DÜSEN 2004. On snake species of the Western Taurus range, Turkey. Nat. Croat. 13 (1): 19-33
  • Kurnaz, Muammer; Ufuk Bülbül, Ali Ihsan Eroglu, Bilal Kutrup, Halime Koc 2018. Northwesternmost locality record of Montivipera xanthina (GRAY, 1849) in Turkey. Herpetozoa 30 (3/4): 218 - 221 - get paper here
  • Kwet, A. 2010. Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. Kosmos-Verlag, Stuttgart, 252 pp.
  • Kwet, Axel & Benny Trapp 2014. Liste der Reptilien Europas. Draco 15 (60): 72-79 - get paper here
  • Kwet, Axel & Benny Trapp 2014. Die Vipern Europas. Draco 15 (60): 40-56 - 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
  • 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. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Mebert, Konrad; Bayram Göçmen, Naşit İğci, Mert Kariş, Mehmet Anıl Oğuz, Mehmet Zülfü Yıldız, Alexandre Teynié, Nikolaus Stümpel, and Sylvain Ursenbacher 2020. Mountain Vipers in Central-Eastern Turkey: Huge Range Extensions for Four Taxa Reshape Decades of Misleading Perspectives. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 15 (1): - get paper here
  • Nilson G; Andren C 1985. Systematics of the Vipera xanthina complex (Reptilia: Viperidae). 3. Taxonomic status of the Bulgar Dagh viper in south Turkey. Journal of Herpetology 19 (2): 276-283 - get paper here
  • Nilson G; Andren C 1986. The mountain vipers of the Middle East - the Vipera xanthina complex (Reptilia: Viperidae). Bonner Zool. Monogr. 20: 1-90 - get paper here
  • Nilson G; Andren C; Flardh B 1990. Vipera albizona, a new mountain viper from central Turkey, with comments on isolating effects of the Anatolian 'Diagonal'. Amphibia-Reptilia 11(3): 285-294 - get paper here
  • Nilson, G., Andren, C., & Flärdh, B. 1988. Die Vipern der Türkei. Salamandra 24 (4): 215-247 - get paper here
  • Nilson,G.; TUNIYEV,B.; ANDRÉN,C.; ORLOV,N.; JOGER,U. & HERRMANN,H. W. 1999. Taxonomic position of the Vipera xanthina complex. Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 99-102
  • 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]
  • Radspieler, Clemens;Schweiger, Mario 1990. Die Bergotter Daboia (Synonym Vipera) Xanthina Gray, 1849: Beobachtungen im natürlichen Lebensraum, Haltung, Zucht und Aufzucht in Gefangenschaft. Herpetofauna 12 (66): 11-20 - get paper here
  • Schätti, B. & Baran, I. 1988. Bemerkungen zur Verbreitung von Elaphe hohenackeri (STRAUCH 1873) und Vipera xanthina (GRAY 1849) in Süd-Anatolien. Salamandra 24 (4): 306-309 - get paper here
  • Schätti, B.;Baran, I.;Sigg, H. 1991. Rediscovery of the Bolkar viper: morphological variation and systematic implications on the 'Vipera xanthina complex'. Amphibia-Reptilia 12 (3): 305-327 - get paper here
  • Schlüter, U. 2009. Die Schlangenfauna Europas. Draco 10 (39): 4-21 - get paper here
  • Schlüter, U. 2010. Der Herpetofauna von Symi [Griechenland]. Elaphe 18 (4): 62-67
  • Schmidtler, Josef Friedrich;Eiselt, Josef;Sigg, Harry 1990. Die subalpine Herpetofauna des Bolkar-Gebirges (Mittlerer Taurus, Südtürkei). Herpetofauna 12 (64): 11-20 - get paper here
  • Schneider, B. 1983. Zur Herpetofauna der Inseln Kalymnos undTelentos (Dodekanes, Ägäis). Salamandra 19 (1-2): 61-70 - get paper here
  • Schweiger, M. 2009. Die Giftschlangen Europas. Eine Übersicht der Arten und Bemerkungen zu einzelnen Taxa. Reptilia (Münster) 14 (76): 14-25 - get paper here
  • Shine, Richard;Madsen, Thomas 1994. Sexual dichromatism in snakes of the genus Vipera: A review and a new evolutionary hypothesis. Journal of Herpetology 28 (1): 114-117 - get paper here
  • Sigg, H. 1987. Nachforschungen über Vipera ursinii anatolica EISELT & BARAN 1970 im westlichen Taurus. Herpetofauna 9 (47): 25-34 - get paper here
  • Sindaco, R.; Alberto Venchi & Cristina Grieco 2013. The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic, Volume 2: Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, with an Update to Volume 1. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 543 pp. - get paper here
  • Sindaco, R.; Serra, G. & Menegon, M. 2006. New data on the Syrian herpetofauna with a newly-recorded species of snake. Zoology of the Middle-East 37: 29-38 - get paper here
  • Sindaco, Roberto; Alberto Venchi, Giuseppe M. Carpaneto, Marco A. Bologna 2000. The Reptiles of Anatolia: a Checklist and Zoogeographical analysis. Biogeographia, 21-2000: 441-554. - get paper here
  • Strauch, A. 1868. Concerning poisonous snakes distributed in Russia. [in Russian]. Trudy Perv. Siezda Russ. Yestestv. Zool., 1: 294 (also cited as Trans. First Conf. Russ. Nat., St.Petersburg, 1: 271-297)
  • Stümpel, N. & Trapp, B. 2006. Montivipera xanthina (GRAY 1849), Bergotter. Reptilia (Münster) 11 (60): 51-54 - get paper here
  • Stümpel, Nikolaus; Mehdi Rajabizadeh, Aziz Avcı, Wolfgang Wüster, Ulrich Joger 2016. Phylogeny and diversification of mountain vipers (Montivipera, Nilson et al. 2001) triggered by multiple Plio-Pleistocene refugia and high-mountain topography in the Near and Middle East. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.025 - get paper here
  • Šmíd, Jiří;, & Krystal A. Tolley 2019. Calibrating the tree of vipers under the fossilized birth-death model. Scientific Reports 9:5510 - get paper here
  • Tiedemann,F. & Grillitsch,H. 1986. Zur Verbreitung von Vipera xanthina (Gray 1849) in Griechenland (Serpentes Viperidae). Salamandra 22 (4): 272-275 - get paper here
  • TOSONOGLU, M. & GÜL, Ç. & UYSAL, I. 2009. The herpetofauna of Tenedos (Bozcaada, Turkey) [Short Note]. Herpetozoa 22: - get paper here
  • Trapp, B. 2007. Reptilien und Amphibien des griechischen Festlandes. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 300 pp. - get paper here
  • Trapp, Benny 2014. Europäische Vipern. Terraria-Elaphe 2014 (3): 14-21 - get paper here
  • Trutnau, L. 1975. Europäische Amphibien und Reptilien. Belser Verlag, Stuttgart 212 pp.
  • Venchi, Alberto and Roberto Sindaco 2006. Annotated checklist of the reptiles of the Mediterranean countries, with keys to species identification. Part 2 -Snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes). Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale "G. Doria", Genova, XCVIII: 259-364
  • 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.
  • Wirth, Michael 2014. Auf der Suche nach Bergottern (Montivipera xanthina) im Nordosten Griechenlands – Teil 2. Terraria-Elaphe 2014 (4): 40-44 - get paper here
  • Wirth, Michael 2014. Auf der Suche nach Bergottern (Montivipera xanthina) im Nordosten Griechenlands Teil 1. Terraria-Elaphe 2014 (3): 38-43 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Montivipera&species=xanthina

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator