Common names: rock viper, coastal viper, Ottoman viper, more.

Vipera xanthina is a venomous

Venomous snake

"Poisonous snake" redirects here. For true poisonous snakes, see Rhabdophis.Venomous snakes are snakes which have venom glands and specialized teeth for the injection of venom...

 viper

Viperinae

The Viperinae, or viperines, are a subfamily of venomous vipers found in Europe, Asia and Africa. They are distinguished by their lack of the heat-sensing pit organs that characterize their sister group, the Crotalinae. Currently, 12 genera and 66 species are recognized...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 found in northeastern Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 and Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, as well as certain islands in the Aegean Sea

Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Description

As per the photographs. Skin tones can vary e.g. grey or white with a black zig-zag pattern. Melanistic versions may exist. Has keeled scales

Keeled scales

Keeled scales refer to reptile scales that, rather than being smooth, have a ridge down the center that may or may not extend to the tip of the scale, making them rough to the touch...

. Usually grows to 70-95 cm (27.6-37.4 in), but reaches a maximum length of 130 cm (51.2 in) on certain Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 islands in the Aegean Sea

Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

.

Habitat

Vipera xanthina can be found living in humid areas. They favor rocky and "well-vegetated" areas for their habitats.

Prey

The diet of vipera xanthina is thought to consist of rodents and other small mammals and native birds. It has also been speculated that they prey on lizards as well.

Common names

Rock viper, coastal viper, Ottoman viper, Turkish viper, Near East viper, mountain viper.

Geographic range

Extreme northeastern Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, the Greek islands of Simi

Symi

Symi also transliterated Syme or Simi is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and includes the harbor town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller localities, beaches, and areas of significance in history and mythology...

, Skiathos

Skiathos

Skiathos is a small Greek island in the northwest Aegean Sea. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland, and west of the island of Skopelos.-Geography:...

, Kos

Kos

Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...

, Kalimnos, Leros

Leros

Leros is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies 317 km from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 11-hour ferry ride . Leros is part of the Kalymnos peripheral unit...

, Lipsos

Leipsoi

Leipsoi is an island south of Samos and to the north of Leros in Greece. It is well serviced with ferries passing between Patmos and Leros and on the main route for ferries from Piraeus. Lipsi or Lipsous is a small group of islets at the northern part of the Dodecanese near to Patmos island and...

, Patmos

Patmos

Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...

, Samos

Samos Island

Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...

, Chios

Chios

Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...

 and Lesbos, European Turkey, the western half of Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 (inland eastward to Kayseri

Kayseri

Kayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...

), and islands (e.g. Chalki

Chalki

Halki is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, some west of Rhodes. With the area of , it is the smallest inhabited island of Dodecanese. It is part of the Rhodes peripheral unit. It has permanent population of 330 , concentrated in the only village...

, Kastellórizon [Meis Adasi]) of the Turkish mainland shelf. The type locality given is "Xanthus" [southwestern Turkey (Kınık)], and "Asia Minor

Asia Minor

Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

." Listed as "Xanthos" by Schwarz (1936). Nilson and Andrén (1986) restricted the species to "Xanthos

Xanthos

Xanthos was the name of a city in ancient Lycia, the site of present day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey, and of the river on which the city is situated...

" [= Xanthus] (Kınık) province Mugla

Mugla Province

Muğla Province is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are on the coast in Muğla....

, S. W. Turkish Anatolia" through lectotype

Lectotype

In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...

 designation.

Conservation status

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001). Listed as such due to its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. Year assessed: 2005.

It is, however, listed as strictly protected (Appendix II) under the Berne Convention

Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats

The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats 1979, also known as the Bern Convention , came into force on June 1, 1982....

.

Taxonomy

According to Nilson, Andrén and Flärdh (1990), V. bornmuelleri

Vipera bornmuelleri

Vipera bornmuelleri is a venomous viper species found in Lebanon and Syria. No subspecies are currently recognized.-Description:Grows to a maximum length of about 75 cm, but usually much less. Males tend to be larger than females in some populations. In specimens from Mt. Lebanon, the maximum...

, V. bulgardaghica

Vipera bulgardaghica

Vipera bulgardaghica is a venomous viper species endemic in the mountains of southern Turkey. No subspecies are currently recognized.-Geographic range:The Bulgar Dagh mountains, Nigde Province, south central Anatolia, Turkey...

, V.wagneri

Vipera wagneri

Vipera wagneri is a venomous viper species found in eastern Turkey and northwest Iran. No subspecies are currently recognized.-Description: Grows to a maximum length of 70-95 cm....

and V. xanthina are all closely related and together form the Vipera xanthina group or complex.

External links

• Montivipera xanthina at Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe. Accessed 18 January 2010.