Vipera pontica

Vipera pontica
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Viperinae
Genus: Vipera
Species: V. pontica
Binomial name
Vipera pontica
Billing, Nilson & Sattler, 1990[2]
Common names: Pontic adder.[3]

Vipera pontica is a venomous viper species endemic to Turkey and Georgia.[3] No subspecies are currently recognized.[4]

Description

V. pontica probably does not grow to more than 60 cm (24 in) in total length (body + tail). The largest type specimen was 277 mm (10.9 in) in total length.[3]

Holotype: NHMG 5021.[2]

Geographic range

Known only from the Çoruh River valley in Artvin Province, northeastern Turkey. It is probably also found in the Turkish province of Erzurum, as well as the Kura valley in Georgia.[2] Mallow et al. (2003) describe the range as Turkish Anatolia and adjacent parts of Georgia.[3]

The type locality is "Coruh valley, province Artvin, northeastern Turkey.[2]

Conservation status

This species is classified as Endangered (EN) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] It is also listed as a strictly protected species (Appendix II) under the Berne Convention.[5]

Habitat

Its preferred habitat is steep wooded mountain slopes with rock outcroppings and piles of stones.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vipera pontica at the IUCN Red List. Accessed 2 September 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 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. ↑ "Vipera pontica". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 August 2006.
  5. ↑ Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Appendix II at Council of Europe. Accessed 9 October 2006.

Further reading

  • Billing H, Nilson G, Sattler U. 1990. Vipera pontica sp.n., a new viper species in the kaznakovi group (Reptilia, Viperidae) from northeastern Turkey and adjacent Transcaucasia. Zoologica Scripta 19: 227-231.

External links