Lebanon viper

{{speciesbox

| image = Vipera bornmuelleri.JPG

| status = EN

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Mousa Disi, A.M. |author2=Hraoui-Bloquet, S. |author3=Sadek, R. |author4=Werner, Y. |date=2006 |title=Montivipera bornmuelleri |volume=2006 |page=e.T61445A12486224 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T61445A12486224.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| genus = Montivipera

| species = bornmuelleri

| authority = F. Werner, 1898

| range_map = Montivipera bornmuelleri distribution.png

| synonyms =

Lachesis libanotica
{{small|Hemprich, 1827}} (nomen nudum)
Vipera Bornmülleri
{{small|F. Werner, 1898}}
Vipera lebetina var. bornmülleri
{{small|— F. Werner, 1902}}
Coluber bornmülleri
{{small|— Nikolsky, 1916}}
Vipera bornmülleri
{{small|— F. Werner, 1922}}
Vipera bornmülleri
{{small|— F. Werner, 1936}}
Vipera bornmuelleri
{{small|— Mertens, 1967}}
Daboia (Daboia) raddei bornmuelleri
{{small|— Obst, 1983}}
Vipera bonnmulleri
{{small|Khole, 1991}} (ex errore)
Vipera xanthina bornmuelleri
{{small|— Golay et al., 1993}}McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T (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).
Montivipera bornmuelleri
{{small|— Garrigues et al., 2005}}

}}

The Lebanon viper (Montivipera bornmuelleri), also known as Bornmueller's 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}}. is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to Western Asia.{{EMBL species|genus=Montivipera|species=bornmuelleri}} www.reptile-database.org. There are no recognized subspecies.{{ITIS|id=634989|taxon=Vipera bornmuelleri |accessdate=16 August 2006}}

Etymology

The specific name, bornmuelleri, is in honor of German botanist Joseph Friedrich Nicolaus Bornmüller.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Vipera bornmuelleri, p. 32.).

Description

M. bornmuelleri grows to a maximum total length (including tail) of about {{convert|75|cm|in|abbr=on}}, but usually much less. Males tend to be larger than females in some populations. In specimens from Mount Lebanon, the maximum total lengths were {{convert|47.3|cm|in|abbr=on}} for females and {{convert|53.8|cm|in|abbr=on}} for males. The tail accounts for about 7–10% of the total length.

Geographic range and habitat

M. bornmuelleri is found in high mountain areas in northern Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. Its preferred natural habitats are cedar forest, shrubland, and alpine grassland.

Reproduction

M. bornmuelleri is viviparous.

Taxonomy

The original syntypes of M. bornmuelleri were collected in Lebanon at 1800 m (5,900 ft) and in the Bolkar mountains of western Turkey at 2200 m (7,200 ft) as described by Franz Werner in 1898.Werner F (1898). "Über einige neue Reptilien und einen neuen Frosch aus dem cilicischen Taurus ". Zoologischer Anzeiger 21: 217–223. (Vipera bornmuelleri, new species, p. 218). (in German).Nilson, Göran; Andrén, Claes (1985). "Systematics of the Vipera xanthina Complex (Reptilia: Viperidae). III. Taxonomic Status of the Bulgar Dagh Viper in South Turkey". Journal of Herpetology 19 (2): 276–283. (p. 276.) In 1922, Werner restricted the type locality to Lebanon in his designation of his specimen as a lectotype,Werner F (1922). "Synopsis der Schlangenfamilien der Amblycephalidae und Viperidae ". Archiv für Naturgeschichte 8A: 185–244. (in German). and in 1938 separated out the southern varieties as a separate species (Daboia palaestinae).Werner F (1938). "Eine verkannte Vipera (Vipera palaestinae n. sp.)". Zoologischer Anzeiger 122: 313–318. (in German). In 1967 Mertens raised the name bornmuelleri to valid species rank for the Lebanese populations,Mertens R (1967). "Über Lachesis libanotica und den Status von Vipera bornmuelleri". Senckenbergiana Biologica 48 (3): 153–159. (in German). thus leaving the name xanthina for all Turkish populations, which arrangement was accepted by Baran in 1976,Baran İ (1976). "Tiirkiye yilanlarinin taksonomik revizyonu ve cografi dagilislari ". TBTAK Yayinlari, Ankara, T.B.A.G. Series 9, (309): 177. (in Turkish). and agreed with by Nilson and Andrén in their 1985 paper.

Conservation status

The species M. bornmuelleri is {{as of|2006|lc=yes}} classified as Endangered (EN) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species with the following criteria: B1ab(iii) (v3.1, 2001). This indicates that it is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild because the extent of its occurrence within its geographic range is estimated to be less than 5,000 km² (1,931 sq mi), because its populations are severely fragmented or known to exist at no more than 5 locations, and because a continued decline is observed, inferred or projected in the area, extent and/or quality of its habitat.{{Redlist CC2001|date=2 September|year=2007}}