Overview
Interesting Facts
- The "horns" on this viper may help to protect its eyes from injury or may simply contribute to the snake's camouflage .
- The horned desert viper can burrow quickly into the sand by rapid sideways movements of its body, leaving only the head and eyes visible. However, in its natural environment, loose sand may not be available, and the snake will then hide under a rock or in the burrow of another animal.
- The color of the snake helps to camouflage it against sand or rocky ground , especially when it is partially buried. Cerastes cerastes is an ambush hunter, lurking quietly in a half-buried position until an unwary lizard or rodent comes within reach, and then lunging quickly to capture its prey .
- Although this is not a rattlesnake, it can make a sound by scraping its scales against one another. The venom is hemotoxic.
Common Names
Common Names in German:
Hornviper
Description
Physical Description
Species Cerastes cerastes
The Desert Horned Viper is 4-5ft. long. Its head is broad and triangular with two horns that stick out above each eye. Its pupils are vertical . Scales are keeled . Color is tan with darker spots down the back, and a dark line extends from the eye to the temples.
Habitat
Stony desert.
Biology
Diet
lizards, rodents and other small mammals.
Reproduction
Horned vipers are egg-layers. Mating takes place from April to June, and the female will lay and 12-20 eggs in damp soil. The eggs incubate for about 8 weeks and then hatch . The young snakes become sexually mature in about two years. Captive specimens of this snake can live as long as 18 years.
Behavior
The Desert Horned Viper lives in the desert. They usually bury themselves
in the sand
in order
to keep cool in the desert heat. They overwinter
in the borrowed burrows of rodents or burrowing lizards.
They usually move with their bodies in front of their heads
in order
to keep the sun out of their faces
, using their bodies as a wall.
They normally hunt during the night. They received their name
because
of the two horns that stick
out of the top of their heads.
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
()
- (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Bateson, 1885
- Chordates
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
()
- Cuvier, 1812
- Vertebrates
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
()
- auct.
- Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
()
- Goodrich, 1930
- Subclass:
Diapsida
()
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
()
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
()
-
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
(
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
(
- Subclass:
Diapsida
(
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
(
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
(
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
(
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Synonyms
Acacia cerastes Maslin • Aspis cerastes — Schmidt 1939 • Campbell & TourÉ 1999: 367 • Cerastes cerastes cerastes — Welch 1994: 43 • Cerastes cerastes cerastes< /i> (Linnaeus 1758) • Cerastes cerastes — Haas 1957 • Cerastes cerastes — Mcdiarmid • Cerastes cerastes — Werner Et Al. 1999 • Cerastes cornutus Boulenger 1896 • Coluber Cerastes Linnaeus 1758: 217 • Racosperma Cerastes
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name .
Similar Species
Members of the genus Cerastes
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 2 species and subspecies in this genus:
C. vipera (Sahara Sand Viper) · C. vipera (Sahara Sand Viper)
More Info
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Further Reading
- Asiatic herpetological research. 6 1995 Berkeley, Calif.: Asiatic Herpetological Research Society; c1990- url p. 84.
- Biosphere Reserves, Compilation 4, October 1986: programme on man and the biosphere (MAB) IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 378.
- Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 253.
- Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 138 1969 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 367, p. 369.
- Copeia. [New York, N.Y., etc.]: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. url , , , .
- Fieldiana. 44 1965 [Chicago]: Chicago Natural History Museum, [1945?-. url table 2 , p. 162, p. 167.
- Journal of ethnobiology. 14 1994 Flagstaff, Ariz.: Center for Western Studies, 1981- url p. 79, p. 94, p. 95.
- Official lists and indexes of names and works in zoology. London, U.K.: International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History Museum, 2001. url p. 128.
- Phyletic analysis of fifty characters of advanced snakes [by] Hymen Marx and George B. Rabb. 63 1972 [Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History]1972. url table 42 , p. 242, p. 60, p. 83.
- Phylogeny of the viperine snakes (Viperinae): a contribution in celebration of the distinguished scholarship of Robert F. Inger on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday / Hymen Marx, James S. Ashe, Larry E. Watrous. 52 1988 Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1988. url p. 23.
- Poisonous snakes of the world: a manual for use by the U. S. amphibious forces / Department of the Navy, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, [1968] url p. 109, p. 201, p. 202, p. 82.
- Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. url p. 183, p. 185, p. 187, p. 430, p. 592, p. 597, p. 82.
- Revue méthodique et critique des collections déposées dans cet établissement. Leyden, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie. url p. 49.
- Sexual size differences in reptiles / by Henry S. Fitch. 1981 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1981. url p. 29, p. 56.
- Spixiana. 7 1984 München: Zoologische Staatssammlung München, 1977- url p. 325, p. 76.
- The Bulletin of zoological nomenclature. London, International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. url p. 170.
- The herpetology of Sinai, by Karl P. Schmidt and Hymen Marx. 39 1956 [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1956. url p. 37.
- The palatal dentition in squamate reptiles: morphology, development, attachment, and replacement / D. Luke Mahler, Maureen Kearney. 108 2006 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, c2006. url p. 32.
- The viperid snake Azemiops: its comparative cephalic anatomy and phylogenetic position in relation to Viperinae and Crotalinae [by] Karel F. Liem, Hymen Marx, and George B. Rabb. 59 1971 [Chicago]Field Museum of Natural History, 1971. url p. 107, p. 123.
- Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 13 1964 [San Diego]: The Society, 1905-1989. url fig. 3, page 197.
- Zoology of Egypt / by John Anderson. London: B. Quaritch, 1898-1907. url p. 330.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed February 1, 2012.
- Clark, M. A. WhoZoo.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 5 providers.
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- TIGR Reptile Database . Release date: October 2, 2007
- Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:
- California Academy of Sciences: CAS Herpetology Collection Catalog
- Israel Nature and Parks Authority
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Herpetology Collection - Reptile Database
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
- University of Navarra, Museum of Zoology: Museum of Zoology, University of Navarra
- Yale University Peabody Museum: Peabody Herp Collection DiGIR provider Service
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2537472
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-9426
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 634963
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 133742
