Atheris

Atheris chlorechis

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Viperoidea

Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Unikonta Cladus: Opisthokonta Cladus: Holozoa Regnum: Animalia Subregnum: Eumetazoa Cladus: Bilateria Cladus: Nephrozoa Superphylum: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Megaclassis: Osteichthyes Cladus: Sarcopterygii Cladus: Rhipidistia Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes Cladus: Elpistostegalia Superclassis: Tetrapoda Cladus: Reptiliomorpha Cladus: Amniota Classis: Reptilia Cladus: Eureptilia Cladus: Romeriida Subclassis: Diapsida Cladus: Sauria Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha Superordo: Lepidosauria Ordo: Squamata Cladus: Unidentata, Episquamata Cladus: Toxicofera Subordo: Serpentes Infraordo: Caenophidia Superfamilia: Viperoidea

Familia: Viperidae
Subfamilia: Viperinae
Genus: Atheris
Species (18): A. acuminata – A. anisolepis – A. barbouri – A. broadleyi – A. ceratophora – A. chlorechis – A. desaixi – A. hetfieldi – A. hirsuta – A. hispida – A. katangensis – A. mabuensis – A. matildae – A. mongoensis – A. nitschei – A. rungweensis – A. squamigera – A. subocularis

Name

Atheris Cope, 1862: 337 [conserved name]

• Type species: Vipera chloroechis Schlegel, 1855 in error (=Vipera chlorechis Pel, 1851), by subsequent designation by Loveridge (1957: 303).
• Placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology by Opinion 1634 (1991: 84).

Synonyms

• Chloroechis Bonaparte, 1849: 145 [suppressed name]
  • Type species: none designated or included.
  • Placed on the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Generic Names in Zoology by Opinion 1634 (1991: 84).

• Poecilostolus Günther, 1863: 25 [synonymised by Günther (1863: 16)]
  • Type species: Poecilostolus burtonii Günther, 1863, by monotypy.

• Adenorhinos Marx & Rabb, 1965: 186 [synonymised by Lenk et al. (2001: 98)]
  • Type species: Atheris barbouri Loveridge, 1930, by original designation and monotypy.

References

Primary references

• Cope, E.D. 1862. Notes upon some Reptiles of the Old World. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 14: 337–344. BHL Reference page. 
• Günther, A. 1863. On new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 3 11(61): 20–25. BHL
• Günther, A. 1863. On Atheris burtonii, a new snake from West Africa. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 31(1): 16–17. BHL
• Marx, H. & Rabb, G.B. 1965. Relationships and zoogeography of the viperine snakes (Family Viperidae). Fieldiana: Zoology 44(21): 161–206. BHL Reference page. 
• International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1991. Opinion 1634. Atheris Cope, 1862 (Reptilia, Serpentes): conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 48(1): 84. BHL Reference page. 
• Lenk, P., Kalyabina, S., Wink, M. & Joger, U. 2001. Evolutionary relationships among the true vipers (Viperinae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 19(1): 94–104. DOI: 10.1006/mpev.2001.0912 Reference page. 

Additional references

• Broadley, D.G. 1989. Case 2691: Atheris Cope, 1862 (Reptilia, Serpentes): proposed conservation, and proposed confirmation of Vipera chlorechis Pel, 1851 as the valid name of the type species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 46(4): 264–266. BHL Reference page. 
• Broadley, D.G. 1996. A review of the tribe Atherini (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the descriptions of two new genera. African Journal of Herpetology 45(2): 40–48. DOI: 10.1080/21564574.1996.9649964 Reference page. 
• Broadley, D.G. 1998. A review of the genus Atheris Cope (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the description of a new species from Uganda. Herpetological Journal 8(3): 117–136. PDF Reference page. 
• Lawson, D.P. 1999. A new species of arboreal viper (Serpentes, Viperidae, Atheris) from Cameroon, Africa. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 112(4): 791–803. BHL Reference page. 
• Lawson, D.P. & Ustach, P.C. 2000. A redescription of Atheris squamigera (Serpentes, Viperidae) with comments on the validity of Atheris anisolepis. Journal of Herpetology 34(3): 386–389. DOI: 10.2307/1565361 Reference page. 
• Lawson, D.P., Noonan, B.P. & Ustach, P.C. 2001. Atheris subocularis (Serpentes, Viperidae) revisited: molecular and morphological evidence for the resurrection of an enigmatic taxon. Copeia 2001(3): 737–744. JSTOR Reference page. 
• Ernst, R. & Rödel, M.-O. 2002. A new Atheris species (Serpentes: Viperidae), from, Tai National Park, Ivory Coast. Herpetological Journal 12(2): 55–61. PDF Reference page. 
• Branch, W.R. & Bayliss, J. 2009. A new species of Atheris (Serpentes: Viperidae) from northern Mozambique. Zootaxa 2113(1): 41–54. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2113.1.2 Reference page. 
• Menegon, M., Davenport, T.R.B. & Howell, K.M. 2011. Description of a new and critically endangered species of Atheris (Serpentes: Viperidae) from the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, with an overview of the country’s tree viper fauna. Zootaxa 3120(1): 43–54. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3120.1.3 Reference page. 
• Menegon, M., Loader, S.P., Marsden, S.J., Branch, W.R., Davenport, T.R.B. & Ursenbacher, S. 2014. The genus Atheris (Serpentes: Viperidae) in East Africa: Phylogeny and the role of rifting and climate in shaping the current pattern of species diversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 79: 12–22. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.007 Reference page. 
• Collet, M. & Trape, J.-F. 2020. Une nouvelle espèce du genre Atheris Cope, 1862, de la province de l’Équateur en République Démocratique du Congo (Squamata: Viperidae). Bulletin de la Société Herpétologique de France 173: 27–40. Reference page. 
• Ceríaco L.M.P., Marques, M.P. & Bauer, A.M. 2020. The Bush Vipers, genus Atheris Cope, 1862 (Squamata: Viperidae) of Bioko Island, Gulf of Guinea, with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 4838(4): 581–593. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4838.4.9 Reference page. 

Links

• Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2024. Atheris . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 8 May 2022.

Vernacular names

Deutsch: Buschvipern
English: African Bush Vipers
русский: Древесные гадюки
svenska: Trädhuggormar
中文: 樹蝰屬

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