Vipera walser
| Vipera walser | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vipera walser |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Vipera walser | ||||||||||||
| Ghielmi , Menegon , Marsden , Laddaga & Ursenbacher , 2016 |
Vipera walser , in German sometimes referred to as Piedmont viper , is a species of snake from the genus of real otters ( Vipera ) in the family of vipers (Viperidae). It was discovered north of Biella ( Piedmont , Italy ) and occurs only disjointly in two areas on an area of less than 500 square kilometers on forest-free, rain-rich slopes interspersed with rocks.
The addition of the species walser refers to the Walser , according to the first description , with whom the species shares "an exceptionally beautiful and wild area of the south-western Alps".
description
In general, Vipera walser is similar to the species of the subgenus pelias . It can be confused with the adder ( Vipera berus ), which also occurs in the Alps, which occurs allopatric to Vipera walser in the Alps, but differs generally in the larger number of the respective head shields, the number of shields at the tip of the head and, more rarely, by a fragmentation of the forehead shields into smaller scales. However , the species is not closely related to the adder and the aspis viper ( Vipera aspis ) found in Switzerland ; the closest related species of Vipera walser live in the Caucasus .
The holotype , an adult female with a head-torso length of 51.5 cm and a tail length of 5.5 cm, is dorsally colored brown with a continuous, dark brown zigzag stripe which, however, often breaks into individual bands like the aspis viper or the adder Subspecies Vipera berus bosniensis is dissolved. The head is red-brown with isolated, slightly darker markings and a clear, inverted V-shaped ornamentation just before the neck. The lip flakes are paler with black spots around the edges. On both sides of the head, between the post-eyepiece shield and the neck, there is a wide, black band. The ventral shields are black with isolated white spots on the lower edge of the scales and on both edges towards the first row of dorsal scales.
Danger
The species is threatened in the near future by habitat changes (reduced pasturing of cattle leads to more forest cover) and foragers. According to the first descriptors , the species should be classified as endangered globally due to its small and fragmented range and the resulting population decline. According to the IUCN criteria , Vipera walser appears to be one of the most threatened vipers in the world.
Individual evidence
swell
- Samuele Ghielmi, Michele Menegon, Stuart J. Marsden, Lorenzo Laddaga and Sylvain Ursenbacher (2016): A New Vertebrate for Europe: The Discovery of A Range-restricted Relict Viper in the western Italian Alps. In: Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 54 (3); 161-173. DOI: 10.1111 / jzs.12138
- University of Basel : Newly discovered European snake is on the verge of extinction , Uni News from July 8, 2016.
