Cerastes cerastes
species of reptile
Cerastes cerastes, commonly known as the Saharan horned viper or the desert horned viper, is a species of viper native to the deserts of Northern Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula and Levant. It is often easily recognized by the presence of a pair of supraocular "horns", although hornless individuals do occur. Three subspecies have been described.
Description
The average total length (body and tail) of Cerastes cerastes is 30–60 cm (12–24 in), with a maximum total length of 85 cm (33 in). Females are larger than males.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of this species is the presence of supraorbital "horns", one over each eye. However, these may be reduced in size or absent (see genus Cerastes). The eyes are prominent and set on the sides of the head. There is significant sexual dimorphism, with males having larger heads and larger eyes than females. Compared to C. gasperettii, the relative head size of C. cerastes is larger and there is a greater frequency of horned individuals (13% versus 48%, respectively).
“Cerastes cerastes” enters the record as species of reptile. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cerastes, cerastes and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cerastes cerastes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.