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Photo of danish viper, Vipera berus (Ravnsholt).
A viper is a venomous snake, belonging to the Viperidae family (consisting of roughly 150 species). A viper is characterised by
its long erectile fangs, which are folded back when not in use. They also have
triangle-shaped heads with a distinctly narrower neck. (The broad areas of the head house the venom glands). Their eyes have
irises like a cat's eye (but if
you are close enough to see that, you're probably too close!) Being 0.3-3 m long, vipers feed on small animals, which are injected with venom and then dragged along until
they die.
| Common Name |
Technical Name |
Geographic Range |
| Bushmaster |
Lachesis muta |
South America |
| Bush Viper |
Atberis squamiger |
Angola, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya |
| Cyclades Blunt-Nosed Viper |
Vipera lebetina schweizeri |
Greece |
| Crossed Viper |
Vipera berus berus |
British Isles, Russia, China, Spain |
| European Asp |
Vipera aspis aspis |
Austria, Germany, Italy, France |
| Fea's Viper |
Azemips feae |
Burma, SE Tibet, China |
| Gaboon Viper |
Bitis gabonica gabonica |
Most areas of Africa |
| Horned Desert Viper |
Cerastes cerastes cerastes |
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq |
| Leaf-Nosed Viper |
Eristocopbis macmaboni |
Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan |
| Long-Nosed Viper |
Vipera ammodytes ammodytes |
Hungary, Austria, Italy, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia |
| Palestinian Viper |
Vipera palaestinae |
Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan |
| Rhinoceros Viper |
Bitis nasicornis |
Kenya, Uganda, Angola, Zaire |
| Rough-Scaled Tree Viper |
Atberis bispidus |
Kenya, Uganda, Zaire |
| Russel's Viper |
Vipera russellii russellii |
Pakistan, India |
| Saw-Scaled Viper |
Echis carinatus leakeyi |
Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia |
See also: Adder, Pit
Viper
Reference
- Living Snakes of the World in Color by John M. Mehrtens, 1987. ISBN 0-8069-6460X
For the Dodge automobile called Viper, see Dodge Viper.
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