Darevsky's Viper (Vipera darevskii)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 212526523

Base Data on Threatened Vipers from Anatolia to Transcaucasia

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists several endemic taxa of shield-head vipers of high conservation concern for the Caucasus and the Transcaucasian region into Anatolia. With lowland Caucasus Viper (Vipera kaznakovi, EN) and the highland V. darevskii (CR) and Dinnik’s viper (VU), the Steppe Viper (Vipera eriwanensis (VU), that region harbors an array of confusing (all are related to each other) and variably threatened vipers, often known from very few populations.

The focus species, Darevsky’s Viper, originally known from a small 10x10 km area at sites >2000 m elevation in northern Armenia, have been discovered at a few locations in alpine mountains of south-western Georgia, and  adjacent northeastern Turkey, and recently described as separate taxon ”Vipera sakoi”, one location 250 km farther west. The Steppe Viper (Vipera eriwanensis) is roughly sympatric with the Darevsky’s Viper and relatively well known from grassland below 2000 m elevation of northeastern Turkey and Aremnia. However, it was discovered at only 4 small locations the southern Georgia’s high plateau despite availability of massive habitat. The other two vipers are better known from highly threatened lowland subtropical (Caucasus Viper) and alpine (Dinnik’s Viper) sites.

Project documents

• The description of Vipera walser from the Northern Italian Alps as a new species was one of the most unexpected surprises of European herpetology in the 21st century. In mitochondrial (mt) DNA, it is
• A herpetological survey in the Syrian coastal region revealed more than 25 specimens of mountain vipers, genus Montivipera, previously known by 6 specimens only. Environmentally surprising are new re
• The secretive behavior and life history of vipers makes studying their biology, distribution, and the epidemiology challenging. The easiest way to collect range data are photographs, particularly tho
• The designation of taxonomic units has important implications for the understanding and conservation of biodiversity. Eurasian vipers are a monophyletic group of viperid snakes, currently comprising f
• We provide results gathered during the 2015 expedition, which concentrated on two contact zones and involved four species listed here with their current IUCN Red List status: (1) Montivipera wagneri
• North-eastern Anatolia harbours a high diversity of viperid snakes with only a limited knowledge about their distribution and with relationships among these vipers not yet fully resolved. Moreover, in




Project 212526523 location - Turkey, Asia