Viperinae

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Viperinae
Asp viper, Vipera aspis
Asp viper, Vipera aspis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Viperinae
Oppel, 1811
Synonyms
  • Viperini - Oppel, 1811
  • Viperes - Cuvier, 1817
  • Viperides - Latreille, 1825
  • Viperina - Gray, 1825
  • Viperiodea - Fitzinger, 1826
  • Viperiodei - Eichwald, 1831
  • Viperinae - Cantor, 1847
  • Viperiformes - Günther, 1864
  • Viperida - Strauch, 1869
  • Atherini - Broadley, 1996[1]

Viperinae is a subfamily of terrestrial and arboreal venomous vipers characterized by a lack of the heat-sensing pit organs that characterize their sister group, the Crotalinae. Known by the common names of true vipers, pitless vipers, Old World vipers, or true adders, and technically as viperines, to distinguish them from the common name for all members of the Viperidae family, whose members are known as vipers or viperids.


Like all members of the family Viperidae, the vipers or viperids, members of Viperinae have a pair of long, hollow, venom-injecting fangs that can be folded back against the top of the mouth when the mouth is closed. Known as true vipers, pitless vipers, Old World vipers, and true adders, and viperines, to distinguish them from the common name for all members of the Viperidae family, whose members are known as vipers or viperids. Viperines are found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. About 66 species in 12 genera are recognized.


Overview and description

Viperidae, the taxon to which Viperinae belongs, is a family of venomous snakes characterized by a head that is distinct from the body and with a single pair of long, hollow, venom-injecting fangs that can be folded back against the top of the mouth, tip inward, when the mouth is closed. The two main subfamilies in Viperidae are Viperinae (pitless vipers or true vipers) and Crotalinae (pit vipers). Members of the family Viperidae commonly are known as vipers. However, the term viperid also is used for members of Viperidae. Viperid offers greater specificity than the term viper since some authorities use "viper" for members of the subfamily Viperianae and "pit viper" for members of the subfamily Crotalinae (Nilson and Gutverlet 2004).

Technically, members of Viperinae may be known as viperines. However, they also are known commonly as pitless vipers, true vipers, Old World vipers (Mallow et al. 2003), and true adders (US Navy 1991). Currently, 12 genera and 66 species are recognized (ITIS 2006).

Viperines differ from their sister group, the Crotalinae, by the lack of a heat-sensing pit organ, which in the pit vipers are located between the eye and the nostril on either side of the head. Members of the Viperinae subfamily range in size from Bitis schneideri, which grows to a maximum of 28 centimeters (11 inches), to Bitis gabonica, which reaches a maximum length of over 2 meters (6.5 feet). Most species are terrestrial, but a few, such as Atheris, are completely arboreal (Mallow et al. 2003).

Although the heat-sensing pits that characterize the Crotalinae are clearly lacking in the viperines, a supernasal sac with sensory function has been described in a number of species. This sac is an invagination of the skin between the supranasal and nasal scales and is connected to the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve. The nerve endings here resemble those in the labial pits of boas. The supernasal sac is present in Daboia, Pseudocerastes and Causus, but is especially well developed in Bitis. Experiments have shown that strikes are not only guided by visual and chemical cues, but also by heat, with warmer targets being struck more frequently than colder ones.[2]

Geographic range

Europe, Asia and Africa.[1] However, they do not occur in Madagascar.[3]

Most are tropical and subtropical, although one species, Vipera berus, even occurs within the Arctic Circle.[2]

Reproduction

Generally, members of this subfamily are viviparous (ovoviviparous), although a few, such as Pseudocerastes, lay eggs.[2]

Genera

Genus[4] Taxon author[4] Species[4] Subsp.*[4] Common name[2][5] Geographic range[1]
Adenorhinos Loveridge, 1930 1 0 Uzungwe viper Central Tanzania: Udzungwe and Ukinga Mountains.
Atheris Cope, 1862 8 1 Bush vipers Tropical subsaharan Africa, excluding southern Africa.
Bitis Gray, 1842 14 2 Puff adders Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula.
Cerastes Laurenti, 1768 3 0 Horned vipers North Africa eastward through Arabia and Iran.
Daboia Gray, 1842 1 1 Russell's viper Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, China (Kwangsi and Kwantung), Taiwan and Indonesia (Endeh, Flores, east Java, Komodo, Lomblen Islands).
Echis Merrem, 1820 8 6 Saw-scaled vipers India and Sri Lanka, parts of the Middle East and Africa north of the equator.
Eristicophis Alcock and Finn, 1897 1 0 McMahon's viper The desert region of Balochistan near the Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Macrovipera Reuss, 1927 4 4 Large Palearctic vipers Semideserts and steppes of northern Africa, the Near and Middle East, and the Milos Archipelago in the Aegean Sea.
Montatheris Boulenger, 1910 1 0 Kenya mountain viper Kenya: moorlands of the Aberdare range and Mount Kenya above 3000 m.
Proatheris Peters, 1854 1 0 Lowland viper Floodplains from southern Tanzania (northern end of Lake Malawi) through Malawi to near Beira, central Mozambique.
Pseudocerastes Boulenger, 1896 1 1 False horned viper From the Sinai of Egypt eastward to Pakistan.
ViperaT Laurenti, 1768 23 12 Palearctic vipers Great Britain and nearly all of continental Europe across the Arctic Circle and on some islands in the Mediterranean (Elba, Montecristo, Sicily) and Aegean Sea eastward across northern Asia to Sakhalin Island and North Korea. Also found in northern Africa in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
T) Type genus.

Taxonomy

Until relatively recently, two other genera were also included in the Viperinae. However, they were eventually considered so distinctive within the Viperidae, that separate subfamilies were created for them:[1]

  • Genus Azemiops - moved to subfamily Azemiopinae by Liem, Marx & Rabb (1971).
  • Genus Causus - recognition of subfamily Causinae (Cope, 1860) was proposed by Groombridge (1987) and further supported by Cadle (1992).

Nevertheless, these groups, together with the genera currently recognized as belonging to the Viperinae, are still often referred to collectively as the true vipers.[2]

Broadley (1996) recognized a new tribe, Atherini, for the genera Atheris, Adenorhinos, Montatheris and Proatheris, the type genus for which is Atheris.[1]

See also

  • List of viperine species and subspecies
  • Viperinae by common name
  • Viperinae by taxonomic synonyms
  • Snakebite

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 R. W. McDiarmid, R. W., J. A. Campbell, and T. Touré, Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. (Washington, DC: Herpetologists' League, 1999). ISBN 1893777006 (series). ISBN 1893777014 (volume).
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Mal03
  3. Stidworthy J. 1974. Snakes of the World. Grosset & Dunlap Inc. 160 pp. ISBN 0-448-11856-4.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ITIS
  5. Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. ISBN 0-88359-029-8.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

[1]

[2]

  • McDiarmid, R. W., J. A. Campbell, and T. Touré. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Washington, DC: Herpetologists' League. ISBN 1893777006 (series). ISBN 1893777014 (volume).
  • Nilson, G., and R. L. Gutberlet. 2004. Viperidae. In B. Grzimek, D. G. Kleiman, V. Geist, and M. C. McDade (eds.), Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Detroit: Thomson-Gale. ISBN 0787657883.

.[3]

Further reading

  • Breidenbach CH. 1990. Thermal cues influence strikes in pitless vipers. Journal of Herpetology 4: 448-50.
  • Broadley DG. 1996. A review of the tribe Atherini (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the descriptions of two new genera. African Journal of Herpetology 45(2): 40-48.
  • Cantor TE. 1847. Catalogue of reptiles inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta. 16(2): 607-656, 897-952, 1026-1078[1040].
  • Cuvier G. 1817. Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux det d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. Tome II, contenant les reptiles, les poissons, les mollusques et les annélidés. Déterville, Paris. xviii, 532 pp.[80].
  • Eichwald, E. 1831. Zoologia specialis, quam expositis animalibus tum vivis, tum fossilibus potissimuni rossiae in universum, et poloniae in specie, in usum lectionum publicarum in Universitate Caesarea Vilnensi. Zawadski, Vilnae. 3: 404 pp.[371].
  • Fitzinger LJFJ. 1826. Neue classification der reptilien nach ihren natürlichen verwandtschaften. Nebst einer verwandtschafts-tafel und einem verzeichnisse der reptilien-sammlung des K. K. zoologischen museum's zu Wien. J.G. Hübner, Wien. vii, 66 pp.[11].
  • Gray JE. 1825. A synopsis of the genera of reptiles and Amphibia, with a description of some new species. Annals of Philosophy, new ser., 10: 193-217[205].
  • Günther ACLG. 1864. The Reptiles of British India. Ray Society. London. xxvii. 452 pp.[383].
  • Latreille PA. 1825. Familles naturelles du règne animal, exposés succinctement et dans un ordre analytique, avec l'indication de leurs genres. Bailliere, Paris. 570 pp.[102].
  • Lynn WG. 1931. The structure and function of the facial pit of the pit vipers. American Journal of Anatomy 49: 97.
  • Oppel M. 1811. Mémoire sur la classification des reptiles. Ordre II. Reptiles à écailles. Section II. Ophidiens. Annales du Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 16: 254-295, 376-393.[376, 378, 389].
  • Strauch A. 1869. Mémoires de l'Academie des Sciences Impérial de St. Pétersbourg (7)14: 144 pp.[19]

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  1. Viperinae (TSN 563898). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 4 August 2006.
  2. Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 359 pp. ISBN 0-89464-877-2.
  3. United States. Dept. of the Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.; 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. ISBN 048626629X.