Vipera nikolskii

Species of snake

Vipera nikolskii

Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Reptilia
Order:  | Squamata
Suborder:  | Serpentes
Family:  | Viperidae
Genus:  | Vipera
Species:  |

V. nikolskii

Binomial name
Vipera nikolskii

Vedmederja, Grubant & Rudajewa, 1986[1]

Common names: Nikolsky's adder, forest-steppe adder.[2]

Vipera nikolskii is a venomous viper species found in Ukraine, eastern Romania, and southwestern Russia.[1][3] No subspecies are currently recognized.[4]

## Etymology

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The specific name, nikolskii, is in honor of Russian herpetologist Alexander Mikhailovich Nikolsky.[5]

## Description

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Adults of V. nikolskii are short and thick-bodied, growing to a maximum total length (including tail) of 680 mm (27 in).[2]

Holotype: ZDKU 14704, according to Golay et al. (1993).[1]

## Geographic range

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Vipera nikolskii is spread in Central Ukraine and southwestern Russia.[1][3] Mallow et al. (2003) mention that the distribution is concentrated in the forest-steppe zone of the Kharkiv region in Ukraine.[2]

The type locality, according to Golay et al. (1993), is the banks of the Uda River, between Besljudovka and Vasishtshevo, near Kharkiv.[1]

Also, Vipera nikolskii was recently found in the eastern and southern part of Romania and Basarabia (Republic of Moldova) by Zinenko et al. (2010) and Strugariu & Zamfirescu (2008).It recently occurred on a ridge in the Low Tatras, Slovakia

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
2. ^ a b c Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. ISBN 0-89464-877-2.
3. ^ a b (in Russian). "Animals of Russia". Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
4. ^ "Vipera nikolskii". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 August 2006.
5. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Vipera nikolskii, p. 190).

## Further reading

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* Golay P, Smith HM, Broadley DG, Dixon JR, McCarthy CJ, Rage J-C, Schätti B, Toriba M (1993). Endoglyphs and Other Major Venomous Snakes of the World. A Checklist. Geneva: Azemiops. 478 pp.
* Strugariu A, Zamfirescu SR, Nicoară A, Gherghel I, Sas I, Pușcașu CM, Bugeac T (2008). "Preliminary data regarding the distribution of the herpetofauna in Iași County (Romania)". North-Western Journal of Zoology 4 (Supplement 1): S1-S23.
* Vedmederja VI, Grubant VN, Rudajewa AV (1986). ["On the taxonomy of the three viper species in the Vipera kaznakowi complex"]. In: Ananjeva N, Borkin L (editors). "Systematics and Ecology of Amphibians and Reptiles". Proceedings of the Zoological Institute, Leningrad 157: 55-61. (In Russian).
* Zinenko, Oleksandr; Țurcanu, Vladimir; Strugariu, Alexandru (2010). "Distribution and morphological variation of Vipera berus nikolskii Vedmederja, Grubant et Rudaeva, 1986 in Western Ukraine, The Republic of Moldova and Romania". Amphibia - Reptilia 31 (1): 51-67.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vipera nikolskii.

* Vipera nikolskii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 21 September 2019.

Taxon identifiers

Vipera nikolskii|

* Wikidata: Q1515810
* Wikispecies: Vipera nikolskii
* CoL: 5BJ9P
* EoL: 790159
* EUNIS: 8806
* GBIF: 5960875
* iNaturalist: 114990
* IRMNG: 10370142
* ITIS: 634997
* NCBI: 110206
* Open Tree of Life: 590877
* RD: nikolskii