Vipera nikolskii

Vipera nikolskii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Genus:	Vipera
Species:	V. nikolskii
Binomial name
Vipera nikolskii Vedmederja, Grubant & Rudajewa, 1986 [1]
Synonyms [2]
Vipera berus nikolskii Vedmederja, Grubant & Rudajewa, 1986 Pelias nikolski (Vedmederja, Grubant & Rudajewa, 1986)

Common names: Nikolsky's adder, forest-steppe adder. ^[3]

Vipera nikolskii is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to Ukraine, eastern Romania, and southwestern Russia. ^{[1] [4]} No subspecies are recognized as being valid. ^[5]

Etymology

The specific name, nikolskii, is in honor of Russian herpetologist Alexander Mikhailovich Nikolsky. ^[6]

Description

Adults of Vipera nikolskii are short and thick-bodied, growing to a maximum total length (including tail) of 680 mm (27 in). ^[3]

Holotype: ZDKU 14704, according to Golay et al. (1993). ^[1]

Geographic distribution

Vipera nikolskii is spread in Central Ukraine and southwestern Russia. ^{[1] [4]} Mallow et al. (2003) mention that the distribution is concentrated in the forest-steppe zone of the Kharkiv region in Ukraine. ^[3]

The type locality, according to Golay et al. (1993), is the banks of the Uda River, between Besljudovka and Vasishtshevo, near Kharkiv. ^[1]

Also, V. nikolskii was recently found in the eastern and southern part of Romania and Basarabia (Republic of Moldova) by Zinenko et al. (2010) and Strugariu et al. (2008). It recently occurred on a ridge in the Low Tatras, Slovakia.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN   1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN   1-893777-01-4 (volume).
2. Species Vipera nikolskii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. 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.
4. "Animals of Russia". Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2009-10-02.(in Russian).
5. "Vipera nikolskii ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 18 August 2006.
6. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Vipera nikolskii, p. 190).

Further reading

• Golay P, Smith HM, Broadley DG, Dixon JR, McCarthy CJ, Rage J-, Schätti B, Toriba M (1993). Endoglyphs and Other Major Venomous Snakes of the World. A Checklist. Geneva: Azemiops. ISBN   2-940077-00-2. 478 pp.
• Strugariu, Alexandru; Zamfirescu, Ştefan Remus; Nicoară, Andreea; Gherghel, Iulian; Sas-Kovacs, Istvan; Pușcașu, Cristina M.; Bugeac, Teodor (2008). "Preliminary data regarding the distribution of the herpetofauna in Iași County (Romania)". North-Western Journal of Zoology4 (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, Leningrad157: 55–61. (Vipera nikolskii, new species). (in Russian).
• Zinenko, Oleksandr; Țurcanu, 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-Reptilia31 (1): 51–67.