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Cerastes vipera
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Scientific classification
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Kingdom:
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Animalia
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Phylum:
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Chordata
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Subphylum:
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Vertebrata
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Class:
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Reptilia
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Order:
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Squamata
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Suborder:
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Serpentes
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Family:
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Viperidae
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Subfamily:
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Viperinae
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Genus:
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Cerastes
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Species:
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C. vipera
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Binomial name
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Cerastes vipera (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Synonyms
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- [Coluber] vipera - Linnaeus, 1758
- Aspis Cleopatrae - Laurenti, 1768
- Vipera Aegyptia - Latreille In Sonnini & Latreille, 1801
- Vipera aegyptiaca - Daudin, 1803
- Aspis Cleopatra - Gray, 1842
- Cerastes Richiei - Gray, 1842
- Echidna atricauda - Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854
- Vipera Avicennae - Jan, 1859
- V[ipera]. (Echidna) Avicennae - Jan, 1863
- Vipera avizennae - Strauch, 1869
- Cerastes vipera - Boulenger, 1891
- Cerastes vipera - Boulenger, 1896
- Cerastes vipera inornatus - Werner, 1929
- Aspis vipera - Kramer & Schnurrenberger, 1959
- Cerastes vipera - Joger, 1984[1]
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Common names: Sahara sand viper, Avicenna viper.[2]
Cerastes vipera is a venomous viper species found in the deserts of North Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. Small and stout, it has a broad, triangular head with small eyes set well forward and situated on the junction of the side and the top of the head. A true desert species.[2][3] No subspecies are currently recognized.[4]
Description[edit]
Averages 20-35 cm in length, with a maximum of 50 cm. Females are larger than males.[2]
Geographic range[edit]
Found in arid North Africa in Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Chad and Egypt. In the Sinai Peninsula they occur in Egypt and Israel. The type locality given is "AEgypto" (Egypt).[1]
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Cited references[edit]
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