Vipera renardi explained

Vipera renardi is a species of viper, a venomous snake in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Asia and Eastern Europe. Five subspecies are recognized.

Etymology

The specific name, renardi, is in honor of Russian naturalist Charles Renard^[1] (1809—1886), also known as Karl Renard.

The subspecific names, bashkirovi and puzanovi, are in honor of Russian zoologists Ivan Sergeyevich Bashkirov (1900–1980) and Ivan Ivanovich Puzanov (1885–1971), respectively.

Geographic range

V. renardi is found in China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Habitat

The natural habitats of V. renardi are shrubland, grassland, and rocky areas, at altitudes of 0-.

Reproduction

V. renardi is ovoviviparous.

Subspecies

Five subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.

• Vipera renardi bashkirovi
• Vipera renardi parursinii
• Vipera renardi puzanovi
• Vipera renardi renardi
• Vipera renardi tienshanica

Nota bene

A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Vipera.

Further reading

• Cristoph H (1861). "Pelias renardi mihi ". Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturaliste de Moscou 34: 599–606. (Pelias renardi, new species). (in German and Latin).
• Krecsák L, Tóth T (2005). "Biting among male Steppe Vipers Vipera renardi (Christoph, 1861)". Herpetozoa 18 (3/4): 188–189.
• Nilson G, Andrén C (2001). "The meadow and steppe vipers of Europe and Asia — the Vipera (Acridophaga) ursinii complex". Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 47: 87-267. (Vipera renardi tienshanica, new subspecies, p. 204; V. r. parursinii, new subspecies, p. 208).

Notes and References

1. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Vipera renardi, p. 219).