Bitis rhinoceros

Bitis rhinoceros is a viper species[5] endemic to West Africa. Like all vipers, it is venomous. It can be easily distinguished from the closely related species B. gabonica by the presence of two large nasal "horns".[4]

Bitis rhinoceros
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Bitis
Species:
B. rhinoceros
Binomial name
Bitis rhinoceros
(Schlegel, 1855)
Synonyms
  • Vipera rhinoceros Schlegel, 1855
  • Echidna rhinoceros
    — A.H.A. Duméril, 1856
  • C[lotho]. rhinoceros — Cope, 1860
  • V[ipera]. (Echidna) rhinoceros
    — Jan, 1863
  • Vipera (Bitis) rhinoceros
    — W. Peters, 1877
  • Bitis rhinoceros — W. Peters, 1882
  • Bitis gabonica rhinoceros
    — Mertens, 1951[2]
  • Bitis (Macrocerastes) rhinoceros
    — Lenk et al., 1999
  • Bitis rhinoceros
    — Dobiey & Vogel, 2007[3]
Common names: West African Gaboon viper,[1] Gabino viper[4]

Description
Close-up of the head

Bitis rhinoceros has a distinctive set of enlarged nasal scales that look like a pair of horns on its nose. This is a characteristic that it shares with a close relative, B. nasicornis. However, B. nasicornis has a brighter color pattern and a narrower head.[6] B. gabonica has no such enlarged nasal "horns", and is overall somewhat smaller than B. rhinoceros. Also, in B. g. gabonica, the dark triangular marking leading back from the eye towards the angle of the mouth is divided. In B. rhinoceros it is not.

Geographic range

B. rhinoceros is found in West Africa from Ghana west to Guinea, including Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Togo is also mentioned.[4][2][6]

According to Spawls & Branch (1995), Ghana and Togo are at the eastern limit of the range of this subspecies, and they begin to intergrade here with B. gabonica. The distribution map they provide indicates that the general range for B. rhinoceros does not include Togo, but that there has been at least one report of a specimen found there.[6] Togo, together with Benin and at least eastern Ghana, are part of a larger region known as the Dahomey Gap; a relatively dry region that separates the rainforests of West Africa from those of Central Africa.[7][8]

References
  1. Johnny, J.; Penner, J.; Rödel , M.-O.; Luiselli, L.; Segniagbeto, G.; Chirio, L.; Trape, J. (2013). "Bitis rhinoceros". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T13300925A13300932. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T13300925A13300932.en. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  2. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. (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).
  3. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  4. 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.
  5. "Bitis rhinoceros". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 26 July 2006.
  6. Spawls S, Branch B. (1995). The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Dubai: Ralph Curtis Books. Oriental Press. 192 pp. ISBN 0-88359-029-8.
  7. Comparative Phylogeography of Reptiles and Amphibians in West Africa Archived July 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine at Homepage, Adam D. Leaché - Ph.D Candidate Archived July 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 7 August 2006.
  8. Salzmann, Ulrich, Hoelzmann, Philipp (2005). The Dahomey Gap: an abrupt climatically induced rain forest fragmentation in West Africa during the late Holocene. The Holocene 15 (2): 190-199. Abstract at Sage Journals Online. Accessed 2 August 2007.

Further reading
  • Branch B (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Bitis gabonica rhinoceros, p. 115).
  • Dobiey M, Vogel G. (2007). Venomous Snakes of Africa: Giftschlangen Afrikas. Terralog Volume 15. Rodgau, Germany: Aqualog Verlag GmbH. 148 pp. ISBN 393975904X. (in English and German).
  • Lenk P, Herrmann H-W, Joger U, Wink M. (1999). Phlyogeny and Taxonomic Subdivision of Bitis (Reptilia: Viperidae) Based on Molecular Evidence. Kaupia, Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte (8): 31-38.
  • Schlegel H. (1855). Over eenige nieuwe Soorten van vergiftige Slangen van de Goudkust. Verslangen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen (Afdeeling Natuurkunde) 3: 312-317. (Vipera rhinoceros, n. sp., p. 312) (in Dutch and Latin).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.