Echis coloratus, known as the painted 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. .] painted carpet viper, Burton's carpet viper,[Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Dubai: Ralph Curtis Books. Oriental Press. 192 pp. .] and by other common names, is a highly venomous snake Viperinae species Endemism to the Middle East and Egypt.
Description
It grows to a maximum total length (body + tail) of .
Common names
Painted saw-scaled viper,
painted carpet viper, Burton's carpet viper,
Palestine saw-scaled viper,
Arabian saw-scaled viper,
[ Echis coloratus at Munich AntiVenom INdex. Accessed 2 August 2007.] Mid-East saw-scaled viper.
Geographic range
It is found in the Middle East and North Africa. It occurs in
Egypt east of the
Nile from near the southern border to the
Sinai Peninsula, and its range extends eastwards into the
Negev in
Israel,
Palestine's
West Bank region, and
Jordan. On the adjoining Arabian Peninsula it has been recorded in Western
Saudi Arabia,
Yemen, and Southern
Oman.
The type locality given is "on Jebel Shárr, at an altitude of 4500 feet ... Midian" (Saudi Arabia, 1371 m altitude).
Habitat
It occurs in rocky deserts, from sea level to altitudes as high as . It is not found in sandy deserts.
Taxonomy
In order to maintain nomenclatural stability, Stimson (1974) proposed that
E. coloratus be validated over
E. froenata. The ICZN subsequently gave
coloratus precedence over
froenata by use of its plenary powers.
Further reading
-
Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the ... Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I.- XXV. ( Echis coloratus, p. 507 + Plate XXV, Figure 1).
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Duméril, A.-M.-C., Gabriel Bibron, and [Auguste Duméril]]. 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris: Roret. xii + pp. 781–1536. ( "Echis frœnata", pp. 1449–1450).
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Gunther, A. 1878. On Reptiles from Midian collected by Major Burton. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1878: 977–978. ( Echis colorata, p. 978).
External links
