A Review on Taxonomy and Distribution of the Genus Echis Merrem, 1820 (Serpentes: Viperidae) with Special Reference to the Middle East.

Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics

مقاله 7، دوره 19، شماره 2 - شماره پیاپی 35، اسفند 2023، صفحه 165-180   

نوع مقاله: Review Articles

شناسه دیجیتال (DOI): 10.22067/ijab.2023.84195.1062

نویسندگان

Elaheh Kaviani¹؛ Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani^{* 2}؛ Eskandar Rastegar-Pouyani³

¹Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

²Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

³Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Khorasan Razavi, Iran

چکیده

Saw scaled vipers of the genus Echis belong to the family Viperidae and subfamily Viperinae. These vipers are widely distributed from East Africa to Southwest and Central Asia. Echis bite is one of the major causes of mortality in the world. Different populations of these medically important snakes have different venom composition, and the relevant antivenom is highly species-specific. Echis has a complex taxonomic history. For many years, only two species were recognized (i.e., Echis coloratus and E. carinatus). Over the past 50 years, the number of species have been raised to 12, of which six species reside in the Middle East. Phylogenetic studies show that the genus Echis fall into four species groups: the E. carinatus, E. coloratus, E. ocellatus and E. pyramidum groups. Until recently, only E. carinatus in Southwest Asia and India and E. coloratus in Arabia were assigned to the Middle East. Several morphological and phylogenetic studies raised the number of Echis species in the Middle East from two to six. These Middle Eastern vipers belong to three different species groups. An Asian, an Arabian and an African group. Distribution and basal split of the genus Echis, likely have been shaped by vicariance and tectonic events, which have separated or connected the land masses. In this study, a brief review on biogeography, taxonomy and distribution of the genus especially in the Middle East is presented.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Echis؛ the Middle East؛ Phylogeny؛ Saw Scaled Viper؛ Taxonomy

مراجع

Ananjeva, N.B., Orlov, N.L., Khalikov, R.G., Darevsky, I.S., Ryabov, S.A., Barabanov, A. V, 2006. The
reptiles of northern eurasia. Taxonomic diversity, distribution, conservation status. 1st ed, Pensoft Pub,
Bulgaria, 245.
Arnold, E., 1980. The reptiles and amphibians of Dhofar, southern Arabia. Jornal of Oman Studies,
Special Report, 2, pp. 273–332.
Arnold, N., Robinson, M., Carranza, S., 2009. A preliminary analysis of phylogenetic relationships and
biogeography of the dangerously venomous Carpet Vipers, Echis (Squamata, Serpentes, Viperidae) based
on mitochondrial DNA sequences. Amphibia-Reptilia 30, pp. 273–282.
Auffenberg, W., Rehman, H., 1991. Studies on Pakistan Reptiles. Pt. 1. The genus Echis (Viperidae).
Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History, 35, pp. 263–314.
Babocsay, G., 2001. Sexual differences in geographic variation of some morphological characters in
Echis coloratus (Viperidae, Ophidia). Herpetologica Candiana, pp. 39–42.
Babocsay, G., 2003. Geographic variation in Echis coloratus (viperidae, ophidia) in the levant with the
description of a new subspecies. Zoology in the Middle East, 29, pp. 13–32.
TAXONOMY AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GENUS ECHIS MERREM, 1820 177
Babocsay, G., 2004. A new species of saw-scaled viper of the Echis coloratus complex (Ophidia:
viperidae) from Oman, Eastern Arabia. Systematics and Biodiversity, 1, pp. 503–514.
Bagherian, A., Kami, H.G., 2008. On taxonomic status of the saw-scaled viper genus Echis (Viperidae:
Reptilia) in Iran [in Persian]. Iran Biology, 3, pp. 105–108.
Barlow, A., Pook, C.E., Harrison, R.A., Wüster, W., 2009. Coevolution of diet and prey-specific venom
activity supports the role of selection in snake venom evolution. Proceeding of the Royal Society B:
Bioloical Sciences, 276, pp. 2443– 2449.
Bhat, R.N., 1974. Viperine snake bite poisoning in Jammu. Jornal of Indian Medicine, 63, pp. 383–392.
Cherlin, V., 1981. The new saw-scaled viper, Echis multisquamatus sp. nov. from south-western and
middle Asia. Proceeding of Zoology Institute. Academic Science, 101, pp. 92–95.
Cherlin, V., 1983. New Facts on the Taxonomy of Snakes of the Genus Echis.Vestnik Zoologii, 2, pp. 42–
46.
Cherlin, V., 1984. New Facts on the Taxonomy of Snakes of the Genus Echis. Smithsonian
Herpetological Information Service, 61, pp. 1-5
Cherlin, V., 1990. Taxonomic revision of the snake genus Echis (Viperidae). II. An analysis of taxonomy
and description of new forms [in Russian]. Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta, 207, pp. 193–223.
Chippaux, J.P., 1998. Snake-bites: appraisal of the global situation. Bull. World Health Organ, 76 (5): pp.
515-524.
Chippaux, J.P., 2006. serpents d’ Afrique occidentale et centrale, 1rd ed. Faune et Flore Tropicales.
Institut de recherche pour le Development, Paris.
Constable, J.D.,1949. Reptiles from the Indian Peninsula in the Museum of comparative Zoology.
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 103, pp. 159-160.
Daniel, J.C., 2002. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians, illustrate. ed. Oxford University Press,
Mumbai.
David, P., Ineich, I., 1999. Les serpents venimeux du monde: systématique et repartition. Dumerilia 3,
pp. 3– 499.
Deraniyagala, P.E.P., 1951. Some new race of snakes Eryx, Callophis and Echis. Spolia Zeylan, 26, pp.
147– 150.
Drewes, R.C., Sacherer, J.M., 1974. A new population of carpet vipers Echis carinatus from northern
Kenya. Journal of the East Africa. National History, Society of National Museum, 145, pp. 1–7.
Egan, D., 2022. Field guide to snakes of the Middle East, 1st ed. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London.
Gasperetti, J., 1988. Snakes of Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia, 9, pp. 169–450.
178 IRANIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL BIOSYSTEMATICS Vol.19, No.2
Geoffroy, S.H.E., 1827. Description des Reptiles qui se trouvent en Egypte, Description de l’Egypte, ou
recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont ete faites en Egypte pendant I’Expedition de l’Armee
Franchise. 2nd ed. Histoire naturelle Zoologie, Paris.
Gunther, A., 1878. On reptiles from Midian collected by Major Burton. Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London, pp. 977– 980.
Hughes, B., 1976. Notes on African carpet vipers, Echis carinatus, Echis leucogaster, and Echis ocellatus
(Viperidae, Serpentes). Revue Suisse Zoology, 83, pp. 359–371.
Joger, U., 1984. The venomous snakes of the Near and Middle East. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des
Vor. Orients, Ser. A. 12, pp. 1–115.
Joger, U., 1987. An interpretation of reptile zoogeography in Arabia, with special reference to Arabian
herpetofaunal relationships with Africa. Fauna and Zoogeography of Middle East, pp. 257–271.
Joger, U., Courage, K., 1999. Are Palaearctic ‘rattlesnakes’ (Echis and Cerastes) monophyletic? Kaupia,
8, pp. 65–81.
Klemmer, K., 1963. Liste der Rezenten Giftschlangen. In Die Giftschlangen der Erde, Behringwerke –
Mitteilungen, N.G. Elwert universitats und Verlags-Buchhandlung, Marburg, lahn, pp. 255–464.
Kochar, D.K., Tanwar, P.D., Norris, R.L., et al, 2007. Rediscovery of severe saw-scaled viper (Echis
sochureki) envenoming in the Thar desert region of Rajasthan, India. Wilderness Environmental
Medicine, 18, pp. 75– 85.
Kochva, E., 1990. Venomous snakes of Israel. In: Snakes of Medical Importance, Asia-Pacific Region N.
Gopalakrishnakon and L. M. Chou, editors. Venom Toxin Research Group, pp. 311–321.
Lenk, P., Kalayabina, S., Wink, M., Joger, U., 2001. Evolutionary relationships among the true vipers
(Reptilia: Viperidae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular and Phylogenetics
Evolution, 19, pp. 94–104.
Leviton, A.E., Anderson, S.C., Adler, K., Minton, S.A., 1992. Handbook to Middle East Amphibians and
Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles., Oxford, Ohio.
Mallow D, Ludwig D, N.G., 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers,
Choice Reviews Online. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida.
Mazuch, T., 2005. Taxonomie a biologie zmije Echis pyramidum leakeyi z Keni. Akva Tera Fórum, 1, pp.
64– 71.
Mendelssohn, H., 1965. On the biology of the venomous snakes of Israel. II. Israel Journal of Zoology,
14, pp. 185–212.
Mertens, R., 1970. Die Amphibien und Reptilien West Pakistans. I. Nachtrag. Stuttgarter Beitrage zur
Naturkunde, 216, pp. 1–5.
TAXONOMY AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GENUS ECHIS MERREM, 1820 179
McDiarmid, R.W., Campbell, J.A. & Toure´, T.A. 1999. Snake Species of the World. A Taxonomic and
Geographic Reference. Volume 1. The Herpetologists’ League, Washington, DC.
O’Shea, M., 2018. The book of snakes: a life-size guide to six hundred species from around the world, 1st
ed. University of Chicago Press.
Oldfield, P., 2021. “One of the world’s deadliest snakes found on industrial estate in Salford”. Manchester
Evening News. (Cited 24 sep 2021) Avalable from URL https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk.
Pook, C.E., Joger, U., Stümpel, N., Wüster, W., 2009. When continents collide: Phylogeny, historical
biogeography and systematics of the medically important viper genus Echis (Squamata: Serpentes:
Viperidae). Molecular and Phylogenetics Evolution, 53, pp. 792–807.
Rhadi, F.A., Rastegar-Pouyani, N., Ghaleb Mohammed, R., Al-Fartosi., Kh., Brown, R.K., Karamiani, R.,
2015. A Study of the Nomino typic Form of Saw Scaled Viper, Echis carinatus, (Schneider 1801),
(Squamata: Ophidia: Viperidae) in Southern Iraq. Scholars Academic Journal of Biosciences, 3(10): pp.
845-851
Rhadi, F.A., Rastegar-Pouyani, E., Rastegar-Pouyani, N., Ghaleb Mohammed, R., Hosseinian
Yousefkhani, S., 2016. Phylogenetic affinities of the Iraqi populations of Saw-scaled vipers of the genus
Echis (Serpentes: Viperidae), revealed by sequences of mtDNA genes. Zoology in the Middle East, 62,
pp. 299–305.
Rögl, F., 1999. Circum-Mediterranean Miocene paleogeography. In: Rössner, G., Heissig, K, editors.
Fritzel Pfeil Verlag, Munich, pp. 39–48.
Roman, B., 1972. Deux sous-especes de la Vipere Echis carinatus (Schneider) dans les territoires de
Haute Volta et du Niger: Echis carinatus ocellatus Stemmler, Echis carinatus leucogaster n. ssp. Notes
Doc. Voltalques. Ouagadougo, 5(4), pp. 1–13.
Roman, B., 1975. La yipere Echis carinatus leucogaster, Roman, 1972 de Haute Volta et du Niger elevee
au rang d’espece: Echis leucogaster. Notes Doc. Voltalques. Ouagadougou, 8 (4), pp. 1–20.
Schätti, B., Gasperetti, J., 1994. A contribution to the herpetofauna of Southwest Arabia. Fauna of Saudi
Arab, 14, pp. 348–423.
Schneider, J.G., 1801. Historiae amphibiorum naturalis et literariae. Fasciculus secundus continens
crocodiles, scincos, chamaesauras, boas, pseudoboas, elapes, angues, amphisbaenas et caeciiias. Jena F.
Frornmann VI.
Stemmler, O., 1969. Die Sandrasselotter aus Pakistan: Echis carinatus sochureki subsp.nov. Aquaterra, 6,
pp. 118–125.
Stemmler, O., Sochurek, E., 1969. Die Sandrasselotter von Kenya: Echis carinatus leakeyi subsp. nov.
Aquaterra, 6, pp. 89–94.
Stemmler, O., 1970. Die Sandrasselotter aus West-Africa: Echis carinatus ocellatus subsp. nov.
(Serpentes, Viperidae). Revue Suisse Zoology, 77, pp. 273–282.
180 IRANIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL BIOSYSTEMATICS Vol.19, No.2
Stimson, A.F., 1974. Echis colorstus Gunter 1878 (Reptilia, Serpentes): proposed validation under the
plenary powers. Bulletin of zoology Nomenclature, 31(4), pp. 223–224.
Stümpel, N., Joger, U., 2009. Recent advances in phylogeny and taxonomy of Near and Middle Eastern
Vipers - An update. Zookeys, 31, pp. 179–191.
Todehdehghan, F., Salemi, A., Fathinia, B., 2019. Identification key for Echis snakes (Serpents:
Viperidae) of the East, South East, and South West of Iran. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies,
7, pp. 1180–1185.
Trape, J.F., Mané, Y., 2006. Guide des Serpents d’Afrique Occidentale Savane et Désert. 1st Ed. IRD
editions. Paris.
Trape, J.F., 2018. Partition d’Echis ocellatus Stemmler, 1970 (Squamata, Viperidae), avec la description
d’une espèce nouvelle. Le Bulletin scientifique de la Société Herpétologique de France, 167, pp. 13–34.
Uetz, P., Freed, P, Aguilar, R. & Hošek, J. 2022. The Reptile Database, http://www.reptiledatabase.org,
(accessed 26 December 2022).
Wallach, V., Williams, K.L., Boundy, J., 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct
Species, CRC Press.1st ed. Florida, Boca Raton.
Warrell, D.A., 2013. Venomous and Poisonous Animals, in: Farrar, Jeremy; Hotez, Peter J; Junghanss,
Thomas; Kang, Gagandeep; Lalloo, David; White, N.J, editors, Manson’s Tropical Diseases: Twenty-
Third Edition. W.B. Saunders, pp. 1096–1127.
Wüster, W., Peppin, L., Pook, C.E., Walker, D.E., 2008. A nesting of vipers: Phylogeny and historical
biogeography of the Viperidae (Squamata: Serpentes). Molecular and Phylogenetics Evolution, 49, pp.
445–459