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Gaboon Viper, Bitis gabonica (Dumeril, Bibron and Dumeril, 1854). Photograph of a captive. This is a giant viper that can reach 1.8 m, but average adults are about 1.2 m. One female that was 1.74 m weighed 8.5 kg. It inhabits tropical forests and forest-edge habitats, but may move into more open habitats to hunt. Like other ambush pit vipers is can lie in the leaf litter and be all but invisible. It feeds mostly on birds and mammals. Reportedly it will take newborn antelope and monkeys. Females give birth to 8-43 young in the late summer. This exceptionally dangerous snake has very long (55 mm) fangs and large (5-7 ml) stores of venom. See: Broadley et al. 2003, Snakes of Zambia; Spawls and Branch, 1995, Dangerous Snakes of Africa. |
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| Palestine Viper, Vipera palaestinae (Werner, 1938). Photograph of a captive animal. Adults may reach 1.3 m, average sizes are 700-900 mm. It is distributed from the Mediterranean coastal plain to the hills of Lebanon and Israel and adjacent Syria and Jordan. This snake may have used the closed, open floored oak forests which were widespread in the Mediterranean area in the past. Today, only remnants of this forest remain and Vipera palaestinae are common in these islands of habitat. It can also be found on rocky slopes, wetlands and agroecosystems. It feeds on mammals and birds, but may take lizards. For a summary see Mallow, 2003, True Vipers Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. |
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| Russell's Viper, Daboia russelii (Shaw and Nodder, 1797). Photographed at the Thai Red Cross Venom Unit in Bangkok. This snake is referable to the race D. r. siamensi. Adults can reach 1.66 m. average size is about 1.2 m. This is a nocturnal snake of open country that feeds mostly on small mammals, but may also take arthropods. The species ranges from Pakistan to southern China and southward into Indonesia. This is a dangerous snake, responsible for many human deaths in South and Southeastern Asia. They have large stores of venom and are quick to defend themselves. The venom has neurotoxic, hemotoxic, systemic, and local effects. In parts of India mortality is 30%. Death may occur as quickly as 15 minutes, and more than half the deaths occurred within 24 hours of the bite. |
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| Horned Viper, Vipera ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758). Photograph of a captive animal of unknown origins. Adults may reach 950 mm, most are less than 850 mm, and males tend to be larger than females. The Horned Viper inhabits the Balkans, northeast Italy, southern Austria, and southern Romania, it ranges eastward into Southwest Asia. It also occurs in the Greek Islands. Habitats used include arid scrub, rock hillsides, and forest-edge situations. It feeds on small terrestrial vertebrates. |
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| Sand Viper, Cerastes vipera (Linnaeus, 1758). Photographs of a captive from Israel. The Sand Viper inhabits ergs (islands of psammophilous vegetation on sandy soils) and mobile sand dunes of the coastal as well as interior regions of the Sahara, Sinai, and parts of the Middle East. Adults reach 500 mm, but average 350-400 mm. This snake has the unusual ability to sink itself into the sand with a vertical burrowing technique that involves moving the sand from under the body with a rocking motion. Young and Morain (2003, Copeia :131–137) experimented and filmed this behavior and the results suggest that the key to vertical burrowing is localized unilateral rib abduction. The ribs end in expanded calcified costal cartilages, which aid in scraping sand from below the snake and transporting it laterally. Sand transport is enhanced by long-axis torsion of the vertebral column (wiggling the body side to side). Note that the eyes are located on the the dorso-lateral surface of the head. Often they burrow into the sand on the lee-side of a bush or below the slip face of a dune. They have a black tipped tail that can be used to caudal lure prey. Females lay eggs that are said to hatch within a few hours, this is in need of verification. The venom is considered mild and not lethal to humans. See: Spawls and Branch, 1995, Dangerous Snakes of Africa; Geniez et al. 2004, The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Western Sahara. |
| The Viperinae compose about 14 genera and 85 species of, short, robust bodies snakes that lack the heat sensing pits found in the Crotalinae. They range in size from the dwarf Bitis schneider to the giant Bitis gabonica, Most species are terrestrial, but the African Bush Vipers, Atheris, are highly arboreal. Most are viviparous, but some lay eggs. Most species are tropical or subtropical, some are temperate and one species ranges into the Arctic Circle. |