The Viperinae, or viperines, are a subfamily of vipers endemic to Europe, Asia and Africa. They are distinguished by their lack of the heat-sensing pit organs that characterize their sister group, the subfamily Crotalinae. Currently, 13 genera are recognized. Most are tropical and subtropical, although one species, Vipera berus, even occurs within the Arctic Circle. Like all vipers, they are venomous.
The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers, or pit adders, are a subfamily of vipers found in Eurasia and the Americas. Like all other vipers, they are venomous. They are distinguished by the presence of a heat-sensing pit organ located between the eye and the nostril on both sides of the head. Currently, 23 genera and 155 species are recognized: These are also the only viperids found in the Americas. The groups of snakes represented here include rattlesnakes, lanceheads, and Asian pit vipers. The type genus for this subfamily is Crotalus, of which the type species is the timber rattlesnake, C. horridus.
The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long, hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of their venom. Three subfamilies are currently recognized. They are also known as viperids. The name "viper" is derived from the Latin word vipera, -ae, also meaning viper, possibly from vivus ("living") and parere, referring to the trait viviparity common in vipers like most of the species of Boidae.
Trimeresurus is a genus of venomous pit vipers found in Asia from the Indian Subcontinent throughout Southeast Asia, China, and the Pacific Islands. Currently 44 species are recognized. Common names include Asian palm pit vipers, Asian lanceheads, and green pit vipers.
Bothriechis schlegelii, known commonly as the eyelash viper, is a species of venomous pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is native to Central and South America. Small and arboreal, this species is characterized by a wide array of color variations, as well as the superciliary scales above the eyes. It is the most common of the green palm-pitvipers, and is often present in zoological exhibits. The specific name schlegelii honors Hermann Schlegel, who was a German ornithologist and herpetologist. For other common names see below. No subspecies are currently recognized as being valid.
Trimeresurus albolabris, the white-lipped pit viper or white-lipped tree viper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Southeast Asia.
Craspedocephalus gramineus, known as the bamboo pit viper, Indian green pit viper, or common green pit viper, is a venomous pit viper species found in the southern and north eastern parts of India. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus is a venomous pit viper species native to India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. Common names include: mangrove pit viper, mangrove viper, and shore pit viper.
Trimeresurus stejnegeri is a species of venomous pit viper endemic to Asia. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.
Atheris is a genus of vipers known as bush vipers. They are found only in tropical subsaharan Africa and many species have isolated and fragmented distributions due to their confinement to rain forests. Like all other vipers, they are venomous. In an example of convergent evolution, they show many similarities to the arboreal pit vipers of Asia and South America. Seventeen species are currently recognized.
Tropidolaemus is a genus of venomous pit vipers found in southern India and Southeast Asia. Currently, 5 species are recognised and no subspecies.
Protobothrops mangshanensis, commonly known as the Mangshan pit viper, Mangshan pitviper, Mt. Mang pitviper, or Mang Mountain pitviper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Hunan and Guangdong provinces in China. No subspecies are currently recognized. This is a nocturnal pit viper that is also known as the ''Mangshan iron-head snake'', ''Chinese pit viper'', and the ''Ironhead viper''. They eat frogs, birds, insects, and small mammals. They have a white tail tip that they wiggle to mimic a grub so that prey comes into striking range—a behaviour known as caudal luring. The venom causes blood clotting and corrodes muscle tissue and can be fatal to humans if not treated. Unusually for vipers, P. mangshanensis is oviparous with the female laying clutches of 13–21 eggs which she will guard until they hatch.
Tropidolaemus wagleri, more commonly known as Wagler's pit viper, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid. It is sometimes referred to as the temple viper because of its abundance around the Temple of the Azure Cloud in Malaysia.
Gloydius halys is a venomous pitviper species found within a wide range that stretches across Asia, from Russia, east of the Urals, eastwards through China. Five subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominotypical form described here.
Trimeresurus rubeus, commonly known as the ruby-eyed green pitviper, is a venomous pit viper species endemic to Southeast Asia. It occurs in southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Trimeresurus salazar, also known as Salazar's pit viper, is a species of venomous, green pit viper first discovered in 2019 in the lowlands of the western part of Arunachal Pradesh, India; the fifth new reptile species to be discovered in the region in 2019. It was named after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series. It has a dark green head and yellowish green dorsal scales on the rest of its body. The species is sexually dichromatic; the males have reddish-orange and yellow-orange stripes and a rusty red-orange tail that the females lack. Its habitat is under threat from human development activities.
Trimeresurus honsonensis is a species of pit viper found in southern Vietnam.
Trimeresurus nebularis is a species of pit viper found in the Cameron Highlands District of west Malaysia and Thailand.
Trimeresurus sichuanensis is a species of pit viper found in Sichuan, China.
