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 recognized as being valid. Like all other vipers, it is venomous.
Description
Adults of Cerastes vipera average in total length (body + tail), with a maximum total length of . Females are larger than males. 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.
Behavior The hunting strategy of Cerastes vipera is unique when compared to that of other viperids because it uses 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. It is known for burying itself in the sand to stay cool, or to ambush prey. When threatened, it coils up into a distinctive c-shape, causing its scales to rub together to produce a rasping or crackling sound.
Common names Common names for Cerastes vipera include Sahara sand viper, Avicenna viper,Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G (2003). True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. . common sand viper,Gotch, Arthur Frederick (1986). Reptiles — Their Latin Names Explained. Poole, UK: Blandford Press. 176 pp. . Egyptian asp, Cleopatra's asp, sand viper,Brown JH (1973). Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. . Avicenna's sand viper, and lesser cerastes.U.S. Navy (1991). Poisonous Snakes of the World. New York: United States Government / Dover Publications. 203 pp. .
Geographic distribution In arid North Africa, Cerastes vipera is found in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Egypt ,Palestine. In the Sinai Peninsula is found in Egypt,Abukashawa, Sumaia Mohamed Ahmed; Papenfuss, Theodore J.; Alkhedir, Intesar Salih (2018). "Geographic Distribution: Cerastes vipera (Sahara Sand Viper)". Herpetological Review 49 (1): 75. and Israel.
The type locality given is "Ægypto" (Egypt).
Reproduction Cerastes vipera is ovoviviparous.
References
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. . 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". Herpetologica 15 (2): 70–72. (Aspis vipera). Subach, Aziz; Scharf, Inon; Ovadia, Ofer (2009). "Foraging behavior and predation success of the sand viper (Cerastes vipera)". Canadian Journal of Zoology 87: 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.
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