The Desert Horned Viper is a species of Viper that is native to the deserts of Northern Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
They are sometimes referred to as the Saharan Horned Viper and can be easily identified by the pair of ‘horns’ protruding from the top of the snake’s head.
Desert Horned Viper Taxonomy
In the Animal Kingdom, Taxonomy is used as the science and practice of classifying different species and sub-species based on their biological and genetic makeup.
Family
The Desert Horned Viper belongs to the Viperidae family of snakes. This essentially means that they are a viper. Other popular families of snake include Elapids, Pythons and Boas.
Vipers are renowned for their large, hinged fangs that can penetrate venom deep into their victims for maximum efficiency.
Many species of vipers dont actually have very potent venom but it is still deadly as they can inject very large quantities of it with a single bite.
Another common feature among most vipers is that they are viviparous, meaning they give birth to live young as opposed to laying eggs.
Some other well known species of vipers include the Berg Adder, the Common Lancehead, the Cottonmouth, the Bamboo Viper and the Eastern Copperhead Snake.
Sub-Family
They belong to the subfamily Viperinae which are regarded as the ‘True Vipers’ or ‘Pitless Vipers’. This subfamily is endemic to Europe, Asia and Africa and contains 13 genera of snakes.
They can be characterised by their lack of heat sensing pits while the closely related sub family of Pit Vipers (Crotalinae) have heat sensing pits.
Some of the other genera in the subfamily Viperinae include the Puff Adders, the Night Adders and the Saw-Scaled Adders.
Genus
The genus that the Desert Horned Viper belongs to is called Cerastes. The species in this genus are small venomous Vipers that are native to the deserts of Northern Africa and parts of Asia.
There are only three recognised species in this genus, the Desert Horned Viper, the Saharan Sand Viper and the Arabian Horned Viper.
Species
The scientific name for the Desert Horned Viper is Cerastes cerastes. It was first described by a Swedish zoologist named Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
Linnaeus is credited for formalising binomial nomenclature which is the modern system of naming organisms. He has described a large number of reptiles including the Yellow Footed Tortoise, the Common Slow Worm, the Green Ameiva, the Eastern Copperhead, the Mediterranean House Gecko, the Northern Water Snake and the Banded Water Snake.He also described the Ringneck Snake, the Blunthead Three Snake, the Rainbow Lizard, the Greek Tortoise, the Surinam Horned Frog and the Nile Monitor.
There are currently two recognised sub-species, the nominate sub-species Cerastes cerastes cerastes and Cerastes cerastes hoofieni.
Desert Horned Viper Description
Probably the most noticeable feature of a Desert Horned Viper is the pair of ‘horns’ protruding from the top of the snake’s head.
They are a relatively small species of Viper that typically only grows to between 30-60cm in length with females usually being larger than males.
They can vary greatly in color ranging from yellow, grey, red or brown. Their background color varies with location as each locale typically has a coloration that blends into the background of their environment.
They usually have dark brown rectangular blotches that run the length of the snake’s body. Sometimes these blotches can be washed out or completely absent.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
The Desert Horned Viper is native to the deserts of Northern Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
This venomous snake can be found right across the Saharan Desert region of Northern Africa where their range extends from the Atlantic Coast across to the Arabian Peninsula.
In Africa, this snake can be found in places such as Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.
Heading into the Arabian Peninsula, the Desert Horned Viper can be found in places such as Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and parts of Northern Saudi Arabia.
As expected from their geographical range, these snakes like dry sandy habitats that are very warm. However, they do try to avoid the excessive heat of the open desert.
They are often found around rocky outcrops or on the edges of oasis and other areas where they can find shelter from the excessive heat.
Desert Horned Viper Behaviour
The Desert Horned Viper is an expert ambush predator. They will lie motionless under the sand for unsuspecting prey to wander by.
They are not particularly aggressive and would prefer to avoid human contact. If approaches, they will often rapidly rub their heavily keeled scales together.
This creates an intimidating sound intended to scare off a potential threat. It is similar to the technique used by species such as the saw-scaled vipers.
Another interesting fact about the Desert Horned Viper is the way they move. They typically use a technique known as sidewinding.
This is often used by desert snakes to help them move over loose substrate such as desert sand. It is used by a number of snakes including the Mojave Rattlesnake.
The technique involves curling the body as they move, almost swimming through the loose soil.
Desert Horned Viper Venom
The venom produced by these Vipers isn’t believed to be as potent as many other species of Viper.
However, a bite from one of these snakes can still have serious consequences. Their venom is made up of more than 13 different toxins according to the Oxford Journal of Medicine.
A bite from one of these snakes can cause localized swelling and pain, nausea, sweating and even kidney failure or heart irregularities.
