Atheris

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