Cerastes gasperettii

{{Speciesbox

| image = Cerastes gasperetti (hornless).jpg

| fossil_range = Pleistocene-recent{{cite thesis|title=Reconstructing the evolutionary history of desert adapted Cerastes vipers in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula|url=https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/bitstream/10216/125684/2/378508.pdf|degree=MSc|author=Margarida Isabel Oliveira Barros|year=2019 |publisher=University of Porto|lang=pt,en}}

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Egan, D.M. |author2=Amr, Z.S.S. |author2-link=species:Zuair S. Amr |author3=Al Johany, A.M.H. |author3-link=species:Awadh M. Al-Johany |author4=Els, J. |author4-link=species:Johannes Els |author5=Papenfuss, T. |author5-link=species:Theodore Johnstone Papenfuss |author6=Nilson, G. |author6-link=species:Göran Nilson |author7=Sadek, R. |author7-link=species:Riyad Sadek |author8=Disi, A.M. |author8-link=species:Ahmad Disi |author9=Hraoui-Bloquet, S. |author9-link=species:Souad Hraoui-Bloquet |author10=Werner, Y.L. |author10-link=Yehudah L. Werner |author11=Anderson, S. |author11-link=species:Steven Clement Anderson |date=2012 |title=Cerastes gasperettii |volume=2012 |page=e.T164599A1060588 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T164599A1060588.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| genus = Cerastes

| species = gasperettii

| authority = Leviton & S. Anderson, 1967

| range_map = Cerastes gasperettii distribution.png

| synonyms = *Cerastes cerastes gasperettii
{{small|Leviton & S. Anderson, 1967}}

Cerastes cerastes gasperetti
{{small|— Farag & Banaja, 1980}}
Cerastes gasperettii
{{small|— Y. Werner, 1987}}
Cerastes gasperettii
{{small|— Y. Werner, Le Verdier, Rosenman & Sivan, 1991}}
Cerastes gasperettii
{{small|— Schätti & Gasperetti, 1994}}

| synonyms_ref = McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).

}}

:Common names: Arabian horned viper, desert horned viper,Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G (2003). True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. {{ISBN|0-89464-877-2}}. Middle Eastern horned viper.Mehrtens JM (1987). Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. {{ISBN|0-8069-6460-X}}.

Cerastes gasperettii, also known commonly as the Arabian horned viper and Gasperetti's horned viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to the Arabian Peninsula and north to Palestine (region), Iraq, and Iran. It is very similar in appearance to C. cerastes, but the geographic ranges of these two species do not overlap.Spawls S, Branch B (1995) The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Dubai: Ralph Curtis Books. Oriental Press. 192 pp. {{ISBN|0-88359-029-8}}. No subspecies of C. gasperettii are recognized.{{ITIS|id=634964|taxon=Cerastes gasperettii |accessdate=30 July 2006}}

Etymology

The specific name, gasperettii, is in honor of John Gasperetti, an American surveyor, engineer, and herpetologist, who collected the holotype specimen.Werner YL (2002). "Middle Eastern herpetology loses John Gasperetti, 1920-2001". Zoology in the Middle East 27: 5-6.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Cerastes gasperettii, pp. 98-99).

Description

File:Arabian Horned viper.jpg

The average total length (including tail) of C. gasperettii is {{convert|30|-|60|cm|in|abbr=on}}, with a maximum total length of {{convert|85|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Females are usually larger than males.

Diet

The diet of C. gasperettii is thought to primarily consist of rodents, with insects, particularly beetles, and lizards making up a less significant component of its diet.{{Cite journal|last=Al-Sadoon|first=Mohammad K.|author-link=species:Mohammed K. Al-Sadoon |last2=Paray|first2=Bilal Ahmad|author2-link=species:Bilal A. Paray |date=20 October 2015|title=Ecological aspects of the horned viper, Cerastes cerastes gasperettii in the central region of Saudi Arabia|journal=Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences|volume=23|issue=1|pages=135–138|doi=10.1016/j.sjbs.2015.10.010|issn=1319-562X|pmc=4705254|pmid=26858550}}

Reproduction

C. gasperettii is oviparous.{{EMBL species|genus=Cerastes|species=gasperettii}} www.reptile-database.org.

Geographic range

In the Arabian Peninsula C. gasperettii has been found in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is found in the Arava valley, located on the border between southern Israel and Jordan, eastwards through Jordan and Iraq to Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.

The type locality given is "Beda Azan [23°41'N., 53°28'E.], Abu Dhabi [Abū Zaby]" [United Arab Emirates].

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of C. gasperetti are desert and shrubland, at altitudes up to {{cvt|1,500|m|ft}}.