Echis pyramidum, known as the Northeast African carpet viper,Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Dubai: Ralph Curtis Books. Oriental Press. 192 pp. . Egyptian saw-scaled 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. . and by other common names, is a species of viper endemic to Northeast Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Like all other vipers, it is venomous. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.
This species, along with the closely related Echis ocellatus (both of the Carpet viper species) cause the most cases of snakebite deaths in the world. Two antivenoms are available to counteract snakebites from this species: Polyvalent Anti-viper Venom by VACSERA in Egypt and SAIMR Echis antivenom by South African Vaccine Producers.
Etymology The specific name, pyramidum, refers to the Egyptian pyramids.Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire I.E. p. pyramidum @ Tomáš Mazuch.
Description The average total length (body + tail) is with a maximum total length of (possibly slightly more).
Common names Northeast African carpet viper, Egyptian saw-scaled viper, Egyptian carpet viper, Geoffroy's carpet viper.Echis pyramidum at Munich AntiVenom INdex (MAVIN). Accessed 3 August 2007.
Geographic range In northeastern Africa it occurs in northern Egypt, central Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, and northern Kenya. There are also scattered populations in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula in western Saudi Arabia (south of the 18th parallel), Yemen, South Yemen (in Hadhramaut), and in Oman.
The type locality given is "Egypte" (Egypt).
Disjunct populations reportedly occur in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and northern Egypt. It is absent in southern Egypt.
Subspecies SubspeciesTaxon authorGeographic rangeE. p. aliaborriDrews & Sacherer, 1974Northern KenyaE. p. leakeyiStemmler & Sochurek, 1969Northwestern Kenya, Southwest EthiopiaE. p. pyramidum(I.Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827)Southern Arabia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.
References
Further reading Cherlin VA. 1990. [A taxonomic revision of the snake genus Echis (Viperidae). II. An analysis of taxonomy and description of new forms]. [Proc. Zool. Inst. Leningrad] 207: 193–223. (in Russian). Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire I. 1827. Description des Reptiles. pp. 121–160. In: Savigny M-J-C-L. 1827. Description d'Égypte, ou Recueil des Observations et des Recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'Éxpedition de l'Armée française, publié pars les ordres de sa Majesté l'Empereur Napoléon Le Grand. Histoire Naturelle. Paris: l'Imprimerie Impériale. (Scythale pyramidum, pp. 151–154 + Plate VII, Figure 1). Golay P, Smith HM, Broadley DG, Dixon JR, McCarthy CJ, Rage J-C, Schätti B, Toriba M. Endoglyphs and Other Major Venomous Snakes of the World. A Checklist. Geneva: Azemiops Herpetological Data Center. 478 pp.
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