Vipera lebetina

Macrovipera lebetina is a venomous viper species found in North Africa, much of the Middle East, and as far east as Kashmir. Five subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate race described here. Common names for this viper include: blunt-nosed viper, Lebetine viper, Levant viper, Levantine viper, Levantine adder, kufi or kufi viper (from Arabic), gjurza (from Russian), coffin snake, Levante viper, mountain viper, gunas (from Kashmiri), fina or kontonoura (the second comes from the translation of Greek Cypriot dialect for 'short-tailed'). This species is currently subject to review. It is likely that certain subspecies will soon be elevated to valid species status. The nominate subspecies was restricted to Cyprus in 1928 by Mertens and Müller and so does not actually occur in the Levant region. The populations found in southern Afghanistan, (Kashmir) and northern India are sometimes referred to as a separate subspecies: M. l. peilei. These normally have semidivided supraoculars. Vipera Euphratica was originally used to refer to the populations that occur in the Euphrates river basin of Turkey, Syria and Iraq. It was synonymized with M. l. obtusa in several publications, including Joger (1984). However, Golay et al. (1993) include it in the synonymy of M. l. lebetina. Obst (1983) suggested inclusion of the species in the genus Daboia instead of Macrovipera. This is a large snake, with females reaching 150 cm (59.1 in) in total length (body + tail) and males a little less. Sizes vary among different populations, with M. l. lebetina being somewhat smaller. The head is broad, triangular, and distinct from the neck. The snout is rounded and blunt when viewed from above, which is why it is also called the blunt-nosed viper. The nasal and nasorostral scales are almost completely fused into a single plate, although some variation occurs.