| Gloydius intermedius | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Subfamily: | Crotalinae |
| Genus: | Gloydius |
| Species: | G. intermedius |
| Binomial name | |
| Gloydius intermedius (Strauch, 1868) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Gloydius intermedius is a venomous pitviper species found in northern Asia. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.[3]
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Gloyd and Conant (1990) report examining subadults and adults that were 33.5–71 cm in total length. Nikolsky (1916) mentioned that some individuals may reach to as much as 78 cm in length. The body is relatively stout and the snout is not upturned.[2]
The scalation includes 23 rows of dorsal scales at modbody, 149-165 ventral scales, 32-48 subcaudal scales and 7 supralabial scales.[2]
The color pattern is variable, but generally consists of 28-45 dark subquadrate dorsal blotches or crossbands that usually extend down the flanks as far as the first or second scale rows. Between these blotches are irregular light areas. A dark brown to black postorbital stripe is present, extending from the eye back to the angle of the jaw, outline above by a light line and cream-colored supralabial scales below.[2]
Central Asian pit viper, intermediate mamushi, Mongolian pit viper,[2] Central Asian pitviper.[4]
Found in southeastern Azerbaijan, northern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, northwestern Afghanistan, southern Russia, northwestern China and Mongolia. The type locality given by Stejneger (1907) is "Governm. Irkutsk, East Siberia." Golay et al. (1993) give "Yesso (= Esso) Island, banks of Amur River and Khinggan (= Hinggan Ling) Mountain Range."[1]
| Subspecies[3] | Taxon author[3] | Common name[2] | Geographic range[2] |
|---|---|---|---|
| G. i. caucasicus | (Nikolsky, 1916) | Caucasian pit viper | Mostly in the mountainous regions southwest, south and southeast of the Caspian Sea. Also in southeastern Azerbaijan, southern Turkmenistan, northern Iran and extreme northwestern Afghanistan. Elevational range is from below sea level (near the southern shore of the Caspian Sea) to at least 3,000 m in the high Lar Valley in the Elburz mountains of northern Iran. |
| G. i. intermedius | (Strauch, 1868) | Central Asian pit viper | Central Asia from Kyrgyzstan, eastern Kazakhstan and Sinkiang (in China) to Mongolia and southern Siberia east to the western slopes of the Greater Khinghan Mountain Range and the Torey Lakes region near the common border of China, Mongolia and Russia. |
| G. i. stejnegeri | (Rendahl, 1933) | Gobi pit viper | The edge of the Gobi Desert in southeastern Inner Mongolia south into China as far as northern Shansi and Hopeh. |