Vipera bornmuelleri
| Vipera bornmuelleri | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Genus: | Vipera |
| Species: | V. bornmuelleri |
| Binomial name | |
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Vipera bornmuelleri F. Werner, 1898 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Vipera bornmuelleri is a venomous viper species found in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Syria. No subspecies are currently recognized.
The specific name, bornmuelleri, is in honor of German botanist Joseph Friedrich Nicolaus Bornmüller.
Vipera bornmuelleri grows to a maximum total length (body + tail) of about 75 cm (30 in), but usually much less. Males tend to be larger than females in some populations. In specimens from Mt. Lebanon, the maximum total lengths were 47.3 cm (18.6 in) for females and 53.8 cm (21.2 in) for males. The tail accounts for about 7-10% of the total length.
It is found in high mountain areas in Lebanon and Syria.
The original syntypes were collected in Lebanon at 1800 m (5,900 ft) and in the Bolkar mountains of western Turkey at 2200 m (7,200 ft) as described by Franz Werner in 1898. In 1922, Werner restricted the type locality to Lebanon in his designation of his specimen as a lectotype, and in 1938 separated out the southern varieties as a separate species (Vipera palaestinae). In 1967 Mertens raised the name bornmuelleri to valid species rank for the Lebanese populations, thus leaving the name xanthina for all Turkish populations, which arrangement was accepted by in 1976, and agreed with by Nilson and in their 1985 paper.
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Wikipedia