29-591: Vipera ( / ˈ v ɪ p ə r ə / ; commonly known as the palaearctic vipers and Eurasian vipers ) is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae . The genus has a very wide range, being found from North Africa to just within the Arctic Circle , and from Great Britain to Pacific Asia . The Latin name vīpera is possibly derived from the Latin words vivus and pario , meaning "alive" and "bear" or "bring forth"; likely
58-477: A biodiversity hotspot . In Southeastern Asia, high mountain ranges form tongues of Palearctic flora and fauna in northern Indochina and southern China . Isolated small outposts ( sky islands ) occur as far south as central Myanmar (on Nat Ma Taung , 3,050 m; 10,010 ft), northernmost Vietnam (on Fan Si Pan , 3,140 m; 10,300 ft) and the high mountains of Taiwan . The realm contains several important freshwater ecoregions as well, including
87-408: A length of nearly 2 m (6 ft 7 in), and was one of the biggest predators of its ecosystem. * Not including the nominate subspecies. : type species Nota bene : A taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Vipera . Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of
116-417: A lot of venom , which is why they should be considered as very dangerous. Two species are currently recognized. These snakes are all capable of exceeding 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in total length (body + tail). The head is broad, flat, and distinct from the neck. Dorsally , it is covered with small, irregular keeled scales . The supraoculars are also fragmented or partially divided. There seems to be
145-740: A lot of variation in the different scale characteristics. Species of this genus are found in Morocco , Algeria and Tunis in North Africa , east to Pakistan , Kashmir and India , north to the Milos Archipelago in the Azerbaijan , Aegean Sea ( Greece ), Armenia and Dagestan ( Russia ). To the south, there is only one old record from Yemen . Members of this genus are adapted to arid and dry habitats . All of these species lay eggs ( oviparous ). *) Not including
174-460: A reference to the fact that most vipers bear live young. 21 species are recognized as being valid. Like all other vipers, the members of this genus are venomous . Members of the genus Vipera tend to be stout and small in size. The largest of them, V. ammodytes , can reach a maximum total length (including tail) of 95 cm (37 in), and the smallest, V. monticola , reaches a maximum total length of 40 cm (16 in). The head of
203-405: Is also one of the world's most endangered biogeographic regions; only 4% of the region's original vegetation remains, and human activities, including overgrazing , deforestation , and conversion of lands for pasture, agriculture, and urbanization, have degraded much of the region. Formerly the region was mostly covered with forests and woodlands, but heavy human use has reduced much of the region to
232-624: Is the same scheme that persists today, with relatively minor revisions, and the addition of two more realms: Oceania and the Antarctic realm . The Palearctic realm includes mostly boreal/subarctic-climate and temperate-climate ecoregions, which run across Eurasia from western Europe to the Bering Sea . The boreal and temperate Euro-Siberian region is the Palearctic's largest biogeographic region, which transitions from tundra in
261-539: The Bering land bridge , and have very similar mammal and bird fauna, with many Eurasian species having moved into North America, and fewer North American species having moved into Eurasia. Many zoologists consider the Palearctic and Nearctic to be a single Holarctic realm . The Palearctic and Nearctic also share many plant species, which botanists call the Arcto-Tertiary Geoflora . The lands bordering
290-979: The Mediterranean Sea ( Sicily , Elba and Montecristo ), and the United Kingdom . They can also be found in the Maghreb region of Africa with species living in Morocco ( V. monticola ) and northern parts of Algeria and Tunisia in the case of V. latastei . Many species can also be found in the Caucasus Mountains , parts of Iraq , Jordan , Israel and Syria . Only one species ( V. berus ) discovered so far lives in East Asia , most notably North Korea , northern China and northern Mongolia . Most Vipera species prefer cooler environments. Those found at lower latitudes tend to prefer higher altitudes and dryer, rocky habitats, while
319-503: The Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe, north Africa, and western Asia are home to the Mediterranean Basin ecoregions, which together constitute the world's largest and most diverse mediterranean climate region of the world, with generally mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The Mediterranean basin's mosaic of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub are home to 13,000 endemic species. The Mediterranean basin
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#1732773410245348-645: The caribou ). Several large Palearctic animals became extinct from the end of the Pleistocene into historic times, including Irish elk ( Megaloceros giganteus ), aurochs ( Bos primigenius ), woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ), woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ), North African elephant ( Loxodonta africana pharaoensis ), Chinese elephant ( Elephas maximus rubridens ), cave bear ( Ursus spelaeus ), Straight tusked elephant ( Palaeoloxodon antiquus ) and European lion ( Panthera leo europaea ). Macrovipera Macrovipera , known as
377-563: The large Palearctic vipers , is a genus of vipers that inhabit the semideserts and steppes of North Africa , the Near and Middle East , and the Milos Archipelago in the Aegean Sea . Like all other vipers, they are venomous . These snakes are responsible for a number of bites in Africa and Western Asia every year. They have a reputation for being ill-tempered and can inject
406-415: The nominate subspecies . ) Type species . The genus Macrovipera was created by Francis Albert Theodor Reuss (1927), specifically to accommodate M. lebetinus (the type species ). The three other species currently recognized were, at one point, all regarded as subspecies of M. lebetinus . It is now likely that certain subspecies of M. lebetinus will also be elevated to valid species status in
435-531: The sclerophyll shrublands known as chaparral , matorral , maquis , or garrigue . Conservation International has designated the Mediterranean basin as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots . A great belt of deserts , including the Atlantic coastal desert , Sahara Desert, and Arabian Desert , separates the Palearctic and Afrotropic ecoregions. This scheme includes these desert ecoregions in
464-628: The temperate rain forests of the Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests ecoregion. Central Asia and the Iranian plateau are home to dry steppe grasslands and desert basins, with montane forests, woodlands, and grasslands in the region's high mountains and plateaux. In southern Asia the boundary of the Palearctic is largely altitudinal. The middle altitude foothills of the Himalaya between about 2,000–2,500 m (6,600–8,200 ft) form
493-575: The Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas , and North Africa . The realm consists of several bioregions : the Euro-Siberian region; the Mediterranean Basin ; North Africa ; North Arabia ; and Western , Central and East Asia . The Palaearctic realm also has numerous rivers and lakes, forming several freshwater ecoregions. The term 'Palearctic'
522-412: The boundary between the Palearctic and Indomalaya ecoregions. China , Korea and Japan are more humid and temperate than adjacent Siberia and Central Asia, and are home to rich temperate coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, which are now mostly limited to mountainous areas, as the densely populated lowlands and river basins have been converted to intensive agricultural and urban use. East Asia
551-580: The heavily developed rivers of Europe , the rivers of Russia , which flow into the Arctic , Baltic , Black , and Caspian seas, Siberia 's Lake Baikal , the oldest and deepest lake on the planet, and Japan's ancient Lake Biwa . One bird family, the accentors (Prunellidae), is endemic to the Palearctic region. The Holarctic has four other endemic bird families: the divers or loons (Gaviidae), grouse (Tetraoninae), auks (Alcidae), and waxwings (Bombycillidae). There are no endemic mammal orders in
580-423: The members of this genus is clearly separated from the body, triangular in shape, and in most species covered in small scales. However, some species, notably V. berus , have small plates on the top of the head. Most species have large supraocular scales that tend to extend beyond the posterior margin of the eye. Some species also have some sort of "horn" on the head, either right behind the nasal scale, or behind
609-542: The northern reaches of Russia and Scandinavia to the vast taiga , the boreal coniferous forests which run across the continent. South of the taiga are a belt of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate coniferous forests . This vast Euro-Siberian region is characterized by many shared plant and animal species, and has many affinities with the temperate and boreal regions of the Nearctic realm of North America . Eurasia and North America were often connected by
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#1732773410245638-630: The palearctic realm; other biogeographers identify the realm boundary as the transition zone between the desert ecoregions and the Mediterranean basin ecoregions to the north, which places the deserts in the Afrotropic, while others place the boundary through the middle of the desert. The Caucasus mountains, which run between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea , are a particularly rich mix of coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, and include
667-752: The region, but several families are endemic: Calomyscidae ( mouse-like hamsters ), Prolagidae , and Ailuridae ( red pandas ). Several mammal species originated in the Palearctic and spread to the Nearctic during the Ice Age , including the brown bear ( Ursus arctos , known in North America as the grizzly), red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) in Europe and the closely related elk ( Cervus canadensis ) in far eastern Siberia, American bison ( Bison bison ), and reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus , known in North America as
696-605: The same sized specimens. However, bites from Vipera species are rarely as severe as those from larger Macrovipera or Daboia . The oldest species of the genus Vipera is the Early Miocene V. antiqua from Southern Germany . The earliest known V. antiqua fossil has been dated to 22.5 million years ago. A very large indeterminate Vipera was found in the Early Pliocene deposits of Mallorca . This species surpassed in size all modern relatives, with
725-411: The species that occur at more northern latitudes prefer lower elevations and environments that have more vegetation and moisture. All species of the genus Vipera are terrestrial . All Vipera species are viviparous , giving birth to live young. Most Vipera species have venom that contains both neurotoxic and haemotoxic components. Bites vary widely in severity. V. ammodytes is most likely
754-765: The species with the most toxic venom. In a study solely involving mice, John Haynes Brown (1973) showed that the LD50 is about 1.2/mg/kg through an IV, 1.5 mg/Kg when injected in the peritoneum (IP), and 2.0 mg/kg when administered subcutaneously (SC). V. berus venom is considered to be on the lower end of the scale when it comes to toxicity. Minton (1974) suggests that the LD50 values for mice are about 0.55 mg/kg IV, 0.80 mg/kg IP, and 6.45 mg SC. Venom yield tends to be lower in this species with Minton citing 10–18 mg per bite in specimens 48–62 cm (19–24 in), while Brown suggest only 6 mg for
783-594: The supraocular scales. The color scheme and camouflage of the members of this genus vary widely, from a grayish ground color with dark brown transverse bands to browner colors with grey transverse bands edged with black in the case of V. ammodytes . Vipera species can be found all around the Old World , hence the common name of the genus, "Old World vipers". They can be found most notably in Europe , from Portugal to Turkey . They can also be found on some islands in
812-757: Was first used in the 19th century, and is still in use as the basis for zoogeographic classification. In an 1858 paper for the Proceedings of the Linnean Society , British zoologist Philip Sclater first identified six terrestrial zoogeographic realms of the world: Palaearctic, Aethiopian/ Afrotropic , Indian / Indomalayan , Australasian , Nearctic , and Neotropical . The six indicated general groupings of fauna, based on shared biogeography and large-scale geographic barriers to migration. Alfred Wallace adopted Sclater's scheme for his book The Geographical Distribution of Animals , published in 1876. This
841-502: Was not much affected by glaciation in the ice ages , and retained 96 percent of Pliocene tree genera, while Europe retained only 27 percent. In the subtropical region of southern China and southern edge of the Himalayas, the Palearctic temperate forests transition to the subtropical and tropical forests of Indomalaya , creating a rich and diverse mix of plant and animal species. The mountains of southwest China are also designated as
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