''Pseudocerastes'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

vipers 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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. It was originally created as a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

in 1896 by

Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer * Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo * George Albert Boulenger (1858–1 ...

for the

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 ...

''Pseudocerastes persicus'', but three species are now recognised: the

spider-tailed horned viper The spider-tailed horned viper (''Pseudocerastes urarachnoides''), also known as the spider-snake, is a species of viper, a venomous snake, in the family Viperidae and genus ''Pseudocerastes''. The genus is commonly known as "false-horned vipers ...

(''P. urarachnoides'');

Persian horned viper The Persian horned viper (''Pseudocerastes persicus''), known as the Persian horned viper, false horned viper,Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publi ...

(''P. persicus'') and

Field's horned viper Field's horned viperMallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 359 pp. . (''Pseudocerastes fieldi'') is a viper specie ...

(''P. fieldi''). Like all other vipers, the members of this genus are

venom 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 ...

ous. ''Pseudocerastes'' are often referred to as false-horned vipers because of the horn-like structures above their eyes that are made up of numerous small scales. This is in contrast to the "true" horned viper, ''

Cerastes cerastes ''Cerastes cerastes'', commonly known as the Saharan horned viperMallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. . or the desert horned viper ...

'', which has similar supraorbital "horns", each consisting of a single elongated scale. Mallow D,

Ludwig D Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and co ...

, Nilson G (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. .

Taxonomy

In 2006, Bostanchi, Anderson, Kami and Papenfuss described a new species: ''P. urarachnoides''. It is found in the

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...

of western

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and is described as having the most elaborate tail ornamentation of any snake yet described, save for the rattlesnakes, ''

Crotalus ''Crotalus'' is a genus of venomous pit vipers in the family Viperidae, known as rattlesnakes or rattlers.Albert Hazen WWright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing ...

'' and ''

Sistrurus :''Common names: ground rattlesnakes, pygmy rattlesnakes, massasaugas'' Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press ...

''. ''P. fieldi'' and ''P. persicus'' were once regarded as two subspecies of the same species, but further studies on the snakes' morphology, molecular structure and toxicology determined that they are in fact separate species.

Species

References

* 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. (Genus ''Pseudocerastes'' and species ''Pseudocerastes persicus'', p. 501). * Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Duméril A A(1854). ''Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux''. (= ''General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of the Reptiles. Volume 7. Second Part. Containing the'' 'Natural'' ''History of the Venomous Snakes''). Paris: Roret. xii + pp. 781–1536. (''Cerastes persicus'', pp. 1443–1444). (in French). * Joger U (1984). ''The Venomous Snakes of the Near and Middle East''. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. 175 pp. * Latifi M (1991). ''The Snakes of Iran''. Second Edition. Oxford, Ohio: Deptartment of the Environment / Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 156 pp. . * Marx H, Rabb GB (1965). "Relationships and Zoogeography of the Viperine Snakes (Family Viperidae)". ''Fieldiana Zool.'' 44 (21): 162-206. * Mendelssohn H (1965). "On the biology of venomous snakes of Israel. Part II". ''Israeli Journal of Zoology'' 14: 185-212. * Obst FJ (1983). "''Zur Kenntnis der Schlangengattung'' Vipera. On Knowledge of the Snake Genus ''Vipera''. ''Zoolische Abhandlungen der staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden'' 38: 229-235. (in German).

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2575031 Viperinae Snake genera Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading

External links