''Montivipera xanthina'', known as the rock viper, coastal viper, Ottoman viper,
[Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. .] and by other
common names
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...
, is a
viper
The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
found in northeastern
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, as well as certain islands in the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
. Like all other vipers, it is
venomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
. No
subspecies are currently recognized.
Description
Dorsally
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
, it is grey or white with a black
zig-zag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.
In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...
stripe.
Melanistic individuals exist. It has
keeled dorsal scales
In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales
In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down t ...
.
It usually grows to a total length (body + tail) of 70–95 cm (27.6-37.4 in), but reaches a maximum total length of 130 cm (51.2 in) on certain
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
islands in the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
.
Behavior
Very aggressive, this snake will strike without provoking, and most bites inject venom.
Habitat
''Montivipera xanthina'' can be found living in humid areas.
[ O'Shea, M. 2008. ''Venomous Snakes of the World''. London: New Holland Publishers Ltd. 160 pp. . (''Vipera xanthina'', p. 58.)] It favors rocky and "well-vegetated" areas for its habitat.
Prey
The diet of ''M. xanthina'' is thought to consist of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
s and other small
mammals and native
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s.
It may
prey
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...
on
lizards, as well.
Common names
Rock viper, coastal viper, Ottoman viper, Turkish viper, Near East viper,
mountain viper.
[Gotch AF. 1986. ''Reptiles -- Their Latin Names Explained''. Poole, UK: Blandford Press. 176 pp. .]
Geographic range
Extreme northeastern
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, the Greek islands of
Simi,
Skiathos
Skiathos ( el, Σκιάθος, , ; grc, Σκίαθος, ; and ) is a small Greek island in the northwest Aegean Sea. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland ...
,
Kos
Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...
,
Kalimnos, Samothraki,
Leros
Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flig ...
,
Lipsos,
Patmos
Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written.
One of the northern ...
,
Samos
Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...
,
Chios
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...
and
Lesbos
Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...
,
European Turkey
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; el, Ανατολική Θράκη, ''Anatoliki Thraki''; bg, Източна Тракия, ''Iztochna Trakiya''), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the pa ...
, the western half of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
(inland eastward to
Kayseri), and islands (e.g.
Chalki
Halki ( el, Χάλκη; alternatively ''Chalce'' or ''Chalki'') is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, some west of Rhodes. With an area of , it is the smallest inhabited island of the Dodecanese. It ...
) of the Turkish mainland shelf.
The
type locality given is "Xanthus"
outhwestern Turkey (Kınık) and "
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
." Listed as "Xanthos" by Schwarz (1936). Nilson and Andrén (1986) restricted the species to "
Xanthos
Xanthos ( Lycian: 𐊀𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 ''Arñna'', el, Ξάνθος, Latin: ''Xanthus'', Turkish: ''Ksantos'') was an ancient major city near present-day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey. The remains of Xanthos lie on a hill on the left b ...
"
Xanthus(Kınık)
province Mugla, S. W. Turkish Anatolia" through
lectotype
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...
designation.
Conservation status
This species is classified as least concern according to the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
It is listed as such due to its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
It is, however, listed as strictly protected (Appendix II) under the
Berne Convention
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...
.
[Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Appendix II](_blank)
a
Council of Europe
Accessed 9 October 2006.
Taxonomy
According to Nilson, Andrén and Flärdh (1990), ''
M. bornmuelleri'', ''
M. bulgardaghica'', ''
M. wagneri'' and ''M. xanthina'' are all closely related and together form the ''Montivipera xanthina'' group or complex.
Venom
There's not much information and data about the venom composition, activity, and lethality of this specific species. However, similar to other species within the genus ''Montivipera'' and the related ''Vipera'' genus, it has mainly
cytotoxic,
haemotoxic, and other minor components to its venom. Although it injects only small amounts of venom in a bite, the venom of this species is highly potent and has been known to have caused fatalities in adult humans. This can be more common in young children or older individuals that get a case of severe envenomation (especially if fangs inject venom directly into a vein, for instance).
According to ''Batzri-Izraeli et al, 1982'', the value via
intravenous injection (IV) was 0.25 mg/kg.
Similarly, Iranian herpetologist
Mahmoud Latifi found the lethality () of the crude venom from the species ''Montivipera xanthina'' to be 0.42 mg/kg in a 1984 study,
and 0.35 mg/kg in a 1985 study, which Latifi conducted for the Department of the Environment in Iran (was translated to English in 1991). For most adult male humans of , the estimated lethal dose is thought to be between 40-50 mg.
In his 1984 study, Latifi found the average venom yield to be 10 mg (dry weight of milked venom). This average was attained from the milking of 4,446 specimens of ''M. xanthina''. The maximum yield was 18 mg (dry weight of milked venom) in the same study.
Further reading
*
Arnold, EN, Burton JA. 1978. ''A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe''. London: Collins. 272 pp. . (''Vipera xanthina'', p. 223 + Plate 40 + Map 126.)
*
Gray JE. 1849. ''Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer.) xv + 125 pp. (''Daboia Xanthina'', p. 24.)
*Nilson G, Andrén C. 1986. The mountain vipers of the Middle East: The ''Vipera xanthina'' complex. ''Bonner Zoologische Monographien'' 20: 1-90.
*Nilson G, Andrén C, and Flärdh B. 1990. ''Vipera albizona'' a new mountain viper from central Turkey, with comments on the isolating effects of the Anatolian "diagonal." ''Amphibia-Reptilia'' 11: 285-294.
*
Schwarz E. 1936. ''Untersuchungen über Systematik und Verbreitung der europäischen und mediterranen Ottern. Behringwerke-Mitteilungen'' 7: 159-262.
External links
*
''Montivipera xanthina''a
Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe Accessed 18 January 2010.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q641092
xanthina
Reptiles of Europe
Reptiles of Turkey
Reptiles described in 1849
Taxa named by John Edward Gray