Bitis nasicornis (Shaw, 1802)
publication ID |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13270281 |
persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03DAE649-EF1E-951D-FCA0-FCA3C5CEFB7D |
treatment provided by |
Felipe (2024-07-03 20:28:32, last updated 2024-08-08 11:58:16) |
scientific name |
Bitis nasicornis (Shaw, 1802) |
status |
|
Bitis nasicornis (Shaw, 1802) View in CoL (no available specimen)
This bulky viper, characterized by its horn-shaped scales at the snout tip, shows a vast African distribution. It occupies dense evergreen and semi-deciduous forests, the Western Highlands, and the forest-savanna mosaics in well-preserved forest pockets. It prefers moist valley bottoms in the dense forests, and is considered a dangerous venomous snake. It occurs up to 2,000 m altitude at Lake Awing in the BH in Cameroon (specimen observed but not collected), and up to 2,400 m in East Africa ( Spawls et al. 2002; Kucharzewski 2011). It was reported from Mbengwi, northwest of Bamenda (elev. 1,200 m) by Stucky-Stirn (1979).
Kucharzewski C. 2011. Book review: Old World Vipers. A natural history of the Azemiopinae and Viperinae von Tony Phelps - Anmerkungen, Erganzungen, Korrekturen. Sauria (Berlin) 33 (3): 19 - 42.
Spawls S, Howell K, Drewes R, Ashe J. 2002. A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Academic Press, San Diego, San Francisco, New York, Boston, London, Sydney, Tokyo. 543 p.
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.