Cerastes vipera

Cerastes vipera Temporal range: Pleistocene-recent [1]
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Genus:	Cerastes
Species:	C. vipera
Binomial name
Cerastes vipera (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms [3]
[Coluber] vipera Linnaeus, 1758 Aspis Cleopatrae Laurenti, 1768 Vipera Aegyptia Latreille In Sonnini & Latreille, 1801 Vipera aegyptiaca Daudin, 1803 Aspis Cleopatra— Gray, 1842 Cerastes RichieiGray, 1842 Echidna atricauda A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 Vipera Avicennae Jan, 1859 V[ipera]. (Echidna) Avicennae — Jan, 1863 Vipera avizennae [sic] Strauch, 1869 Cerastes vipera— Boulenger, 1891 Cerastes vipera— Boulenger, 1896 Cerastes vipera inornatus F. Werner, 1929 Aspis vipera — Kramer & Schnurrenberger, 1959 Cerastes vipera— Joger, 1984

Cerastes vipera, common names Sahara sand viper and Avicenna viper, is a viper species endemic to the deserts of North Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. No subspecies are currently recognized. ^{[2] [4]} Like all other vipers, it is venomous.

Description

C. vipera, neonate.

Adults average 20–35 cm (8–14 in) in total length (body + tail), with a maximum total length of 50 cm (1.6 ft). Females are larger than males. ^[5] Small and stout, it has a broad, triangular head with small eyes set well forward and situated on the junction of the side and the top of the head.

Their hunting strategy is unique when compared to that of other viperids because they use a combination of both sit-and-wait ambushing and active hunting. Active hunting is predominantly used in the months right before hibernation to increase energy intake before the long dormant period. ^[6] They are known for burying themselves in the sand to stay cool, or to ambush prey. When they are threatened, they coil up into a distinctive c-shape, causing their scales to rub together to produce a rasping or crackling sound. ^[7]

Common names

Common names include Sahara sand viper, ^{[2] [4]} Avicenna viper, ^[5] common sand viper, ^[8] Egyptian asp, Cleopatra's asp, sand viper, ^[9] Avicenna's sand viper, and lesser cerastes. ^[10]

Geographic range

In arid North Africa, it is found in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Egypt. ^{[2] [4]} In the Sinai Peninsula, it is found in Egypt, ^[11] and Israel. ^{[2] [4]}

The type locality given is "Ægypto" (Egypt). ^[3]

References

1. Margarida Isabel Oliveira Barros (2019). Reconstructing the evolutionary history of desert-adapted Cerastes vipers in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (PDF) (Master thesis). Universidade do Porto.
2. Wilms, T.; Wagner, P.; Joger, U.; Geniez, P.; Crochet, P.-A.; El Mouden, E.H.; Mateo, J.A. (2013). "Cerastes vipera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T178210A15636436. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T178210A15636436.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
3. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN   1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN   1-893777-01-4 (volume).
4. Cerastes vipera at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 7 November 2024.
5. Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. ISBN   0-89464-877-2.
6. Horesh, Sefi; Sivan, Jaim; Rosenstrauch, Avi; Tesler, Itay; Degan, A; Kam, Michael (February 2017). "Seasonal biotic and abiotic factors affecting hunting strategy in free-living Saharan sand vipers, Cerastes vipera". Behavioural Processes. 135: 40–44. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2016.11.013. PMID   27899311. S2CID   2651713.
7. "Sahara Sand Viper". Sedgwick County Zoo. 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
8. Gotch AF. 1986. Reptiles — Their Latin Names Explained. Poole, UK: Blandford Press. 176 pp. ISBN   0-7137-1704-1.
9. Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. ISBN   0-398-02808-7.
10. U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. United States Government Publication. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. ISBN   0-486-26629-X.
11. Abukashawa, S.M.A., Papenfuss, T.J. & Alkhedir, I.S. 2018. Geographic Distribution: Cerastes vipera (Sahara Sand Viper). Herpetological Review 49 (1): 75.

Further reading

• 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. (Cerastes vipera, pp. 503–504).
• Joger, Uhlrich. 1984. The Venomous Snakes of the Near and Middle East. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, A, 12. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. 115 pp. ISBN   3882261994.
• Linnaeus C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Coluber vipera, p. 216).
• Schnurrenberger, Hans. 1959. Observations on Behavior in Two Libyan Species of Viperine Snakes. Herpetologica15 (2): 70–72. (Aspis vipera).
• Subach, A, Scharf, I & Ovadia, O. 2009. Foraging behavior and predation success of the sand viper (Cerastes vipera). Canadian Journal of Zoology87: 520–528. PDF
• Subach, A. (2020). Using animal tracks to decipher the foraging mode of species capable of altering between the sit-and-wait and widely foraging modes: a case study of the sand viper Cerastes vipera. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution, 66(1-2), 94-100.