Cerastes gasperettii explained

Common names: Arabian horned viper, desert horned viper,^[1] Middle Eastern horned viper.^[2]

Cerastes gasperettii, also known commonly as the Arabian horned viper and Gasperetti's horned viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to the Arabian Peninsula and north to Palestine (region), Iraq, and Iran. It is very similar in appearance to C. cerastes, but the geographic ranges of these two species do not overlap.^[3] No subspecies of C. gasperettii are recognized.

Etymology

The specific name, gasperettii, is in honor of John Gasperetti, an American surveyor, engineer, and herpetologist, who collected the holotype specimen.^{[4] [5]}

Description

The average total length (including tail) of C. gasperettii is 30-, with a maximum total length of 85cm (33inches). Females are usually larger than males.^[1]

Diet

The diet of C. gasperettii is thought to primarily consist of rodents, with insects, particularly beetles, and lizards making up a less significant component of its diet.^[6]

Reproduction

C. gasperettii is oviparous.^[7]

Geographic range

In the Arabian Peninsula C. gasperettii has been found in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is found in the Arava valley, located on the border between southern Israel and Jordan, eastwards through Jordan and Iraq to Khuzestan Province in southwestern Iran.

The type locality given is "Beda Azan [23°41'N., 53°28'E.], Abu Dhabi [Abū Zaby]" [United Arab Emirates].

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of C. gasperetti are desert and shrubland, at altitudes up to .

Further reading

• Farag AA, Banaja A (1980). "Amphibians and Reptiles from the western region of Saudi Arabia". Bulletin of the Faculty of Sciences of King Aziz University, Riyad 4: 5-29.
• Joger U (1984). The Venomous Snakes of the Near and Middle East. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. 175 pp. .
• Leviton AE, Anderson SC (1967). "Survey of the reptiles of the Sheikdom of Abu Dhabi, Arabian Peninsula. Part II. Systematic account of the collection of reptiles made in the Sheikdom of Abu Dhabi by John Gasperetti". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series 35: 157-192, 12 figures, 8 tables. (Cerastes cerastes gasperettii, new subspecies, pp. 183–186, Figure 12, Table 5).
• Werner YL, Le Verdier A, Rosenman D, Sivan N (1991). "Systematics and zoogeography of Cerastes (Ophidia: Viperidae) in the Levant: 1. Distinguishing Arabian from African “Cerastes cerastes” ". The Snake 23: 90-100.

Notes and References

1. [species:David Mallow|Mallow D]
2. [species:John M. Mehrtens|Mehrtens JM]
3. [species:Stephen Spawls|Spawls S]
4. Werner YL (2002). "Middle Eastern herpetology loses John Gasperetti, 1920-2001". Zoology in the Middle East 27: 5-6.
5. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
6. Al-Sadoon. Mohammad K.. species:Mohammed K. Al-Sadoon . Paray. Bilal Ahmad. species:Bilal A. Paray . 20 October 2015. Ecological aspects of the horned viper, Cerastes cerastes gasperettii in the central region of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 23. 1. 135–138. 10.1016/j.sjbs.2015.10.010. 1319-562X. 4705254. 26858550.
7. www.reptile-database.org.