Cerastes vipera

Cerastes vipera, common names Sahara sand viper and Avicenna viper,[3] is a viper species endemic to the deserts of North Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. No subspecies are currently recognized.[4] Like all other vipers, it is venomous.

Cerastes vipera
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Cerastes
Species:
C. vipera
Binomial name
Cerastes vipera
Synonyms[2]
  • [Coluber] vipera Linnaeus, 1758
  • Aspis Cleopatrae Laurenti, 1768
  • Vipera Aegyptia
    Latreille In Sonnini & Latreille, 1801
  • Vipera aegyptiaca Daudin, 1803
  • Aspis Cleopatra — Gray, 1842
  • Cerastes Richiei Gray, 1842
  • Echidna atricauda A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854
  • Vipera Avicennae Jan, 1859
  • V[ipera]. (Echidna) Avicennae
    — Jan, 1863
  • Vipera avizennae [sic] Strauch, 1869
  • Cerastes vipera — Boulenger, 1891
  • Cerastes vipera — Boulenger, 1896
  • Cerastes vipera inornatus
    F. Werner, 1929
  • Aspis vipera
    — Kramer & Schnurrenberger, 1959
  • Cerastes vipera — Joger, 1984

Description
C. vipera, neonate.

Adults average 20–35 cm (8-14 inches) in total length (body + tail), with a maximum total length of 50 cm (1.6 ft). Females are larger than males.[3] Small and stout, it has a broad, triangular head with small eyes set well forward and situated on the junction of the side and the top of the head.

Their hunting strategy is unique when compared to that of other viperids because they use a combination of both sit-and-wait ambushing and active hunting. Active hunting is predominantly used in the months right before hibernation to increase energy intake before the long dormant period.[5]

Common names

Common names include Sahara sand viper, Avicenna viper,[3] common sand viper,[6] Egyptian asp, Cleopatra's asp, sand viper,[7] Avicenna's sand viper, and lesser cerastes.[8]

Geographic range

In arid North Africa, it is found in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Chad and Egypt. In the Sinai Peninsula, it is found in Egypt,[9] Sudan and Israel.

The type locality given is "Ægypto" (Egypt).[2]

References
  1. Wilms, T.; Wagner, P.; Joger, U.; Geniez, P.; Crochet, P.-A.; El Mouden, E.H.; Mateo, J.A. (2013). "Cerastes vipera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T178210A15636436. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T178210A15636436.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  3. Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. ISBN 0-89464-877-2.
  4. "Cerastes vipera". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  5. Horesh, Sefi; Sivan, Jaim; Rosenstrauch, Avi; Tesler, Itay; Degan, A; Kam, Michael (February 2017). "Seasonal biotic and abiotic factors affecting hunting strategy in free-living Saharan sand vipers, Cerastes vipera". Behavioural Processes. 135: 40–44. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2016.11.013. PMID 27899311. S2CID 2651713.
  6. Gotch AF. 1986. Reptiles — Their Latin Names Explained. Poole, UK: Blandford Press. 176 pp. ISBN 0-7137-1704-1.
  7. Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN 0-398-02808-7.
  8. U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. United States Government Publication. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. ISBN 0-486-26629-X.
  9. Abukashawa, S.M.A., Papenfuss, T.J. & Alkhedir, I.S. 2018. Geographic Distribution: Cerastes vipera (Sahara Sand Viper). Herpetological Review 49 (1): 75.

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the...Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I.- XXV. (Cerastes vipera, pp. 503–504).
  • Joger, Uhlrich. 1984. The Venomous Snakes of the Near and Middle East. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, A, 12. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. 115 pp. ISBN 3882261994.
  • Linnaeus C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Coluber vipera, p. 216).
  • Schnurrenberger, Hans. 1959. Observations on Behavior in Two Libyan Species of Viperine Snakes. Herpetologica 15 (2): 70-72. (Aspis vipera).
  • Subach, A, Scharf, I & Ovadia, O. 2009. Foraging behavior and predation success of the sand viper (Cerastes vipera). Canadian Journal of Zoology 87: 520-528. PDF
  • Subach, A. (2020). Using animal tracks to decipher the foraging mode of species capable of altering between the sit-and-wait and widely foraging modes: a case study of the sand viper Cerastes vipera. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution, 66(1-2), 94-100.
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