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Viper
A viper is a venomous snake, belonging to the Viperidae family (consisting of roughly 150 species). A viper is characterised by its long erectile fangs, which are folded back when not in use. They also have triangle-shaped heads with a distinctly narrower neck. (The broad areas of the head house the venom glands.) Their eyes have irises like a cat's eye (but if you are close enough to see that, you're probably too close!) Being 0.3-3 m long, vipers feed on small animals, which are injected with venom and then dragged along until they die.
| Common Name | Technical Name | Geographic Range |
|---|
| Bushmaster | Lachesis muta | South America |
| Bush Viper | Atberis squamiger | Angola, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya |
| Cyclades Blunt-Nosed Viper | Vipera lebetina schweizeri | Greece |
| Crossed Viper | Vipera berus berus | British Isles, Russia, China, Spain |
| European Asp | Vipera aspis aspis | Austria, Germany, Italy, France |
| Fea's Viper | Azemips feae | Burma, SE Tibet, China |
| Gaboon Viper | Bitis gabonica gabonica | Most areas of Africa |
| Horned Desert Viper | Cerastes cerastes cerastes | Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq |
| Leaf-Nosed Viper | Eristocopbis macmaboni | Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan |
| Long-Nosed Viper | Vipera ammodytes ammodytes | Hungary, Austria, Italy, Romania |
| Palestinian Viper | Vipera palaestinae | Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan |
| Rhinoceros Viper | Bitis nasicornis | Kenya, Uganda, Angola, Zaire |
| Rough-Scaled Tree Viper | Atberis bispidus | Kenya, Uganda, Zaire |
| Russel's Viper | Vipera russellii russellii| Pakistan, India | |
| Saw-Scaled Viper | Echis carinatus leakeyi | Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia |
See also: Adder
Reference
- Living Snakes of the World in Color by John M. Mehrtens, 1987. ISBN 0-8069-6460X
For the Dodge automobile called Viper, see Dodge Viper.
Referenced By
Dodge Viper | Dodge Vipers
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