:''Common names: Nikolsky's adder, forest-steppe adder.Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. .''
''Vipera nikolskii'' is a
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 ...
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 ...
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
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, eastern
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, and southwestern
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
herpetologist
Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...
Alexander Mikhailovich Nikolsky
Alexander Mikhailovich Nikolsky (Russian: Александр Михайлович Никольский; February 18, 1858 – December 8, 1942) was a Russian and Ukrainian zoologist born in Astrakhan.
From 1877 to 1881, he studied at the Univ ...
.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Vipera nikolskii'', p. 190).
Description
Adults of ''V. nikolskii'' are short and thick-bodied, growing to a maximum total length (including tail) of .
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
: ZDKU 14704, according to Golay et al. (1993).
Geographic range
''Vipera nikolskii'' is found in Central
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and southwestern
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Mallow et al. (2003) mention that the distribution is concentrated in the forest-steppe zone of the
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.
The type locality, according to Golay et al. (1993), is the banks of the
Uda River Uda or UDA may refer to:
UDA
* UD Almería, a Spanish football club
* Unión Deportivo Ascensión, a Peruvian football club
* Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland
* Union des artistes, a Quebec act ...
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.
Also, ''Vipera nikolskii'' was recently found in the eastern and southern part of Romania and
Basarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
(
Republic of Moldova
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
) by Zinenko et al. (2010) and Strugariu & Zamfirescu (2008).It recently occurred on a ridge in the Low Tatras, Slovakia
References
Further reading
*Golay P, Smith HM, Broadley DG, Dixon JR, McCarthy CJ, Rage J-C, Schätti B, Toriba M (1993). ''Endoglyphs and Other Major Venomous Snakes of the World. A Checklist.'' Geneva: Azemiops. 478 pp.
*Strugariu A, Zamfirescu SR, Nicoarǎ A, Gherghel I, Sas I, Puşcaşu CM, Bugeac T (2008). "Preliminary data regarding the distribution of the herpetofauna in Iaşi County (Romania)". ''North-Western Journal of Zoology'' 4 (Supplement 1): S1-S23.
*Vedmederja VI, Grubant VN, Rudajewa AV (1986). On the taxonomy of the three viper species in the ''Vipera kaznakowi'' complex" ''In'': Ananjeva N, Borkin L (editors). "Systematics and Ecology of Amphibians and Reptiles". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Institute, Leningrad'' 157: 55-61. (In Russian).
*Zinenko, Oleksandr; Ţurcanu, Vladimir; Strugariu, Alexandru (2010). "Distribution and morphological variation of ''Vipera berus nikolskii'' Vedmederja, Grubant et Rudaeva, 1986 in Western Ukraine, The Republic of Moldova and Romania". ''Amphibia - Reptilia'' 31 (1): 51-67.