Vipera seoanei

Etymology

The specific name, seoanei, is in honor of Spanish naturalist Víctor López Seoane y Pardo-Montenegro.

Description

Adults may grow to a total length (including tail) of 75 cm, but usually less.

This is a highly polymorphic species for which four main color-pattern types have been described:

A: well-developed, brown zigzig pattern down the back, very much like V. berus, set against a beige or light-gray ground color.

B: roughly twin-striped pattern, with the ground color expressed as two narrow, straight, dorsolateral longitudinal lines along the body. Resembles V. kaznakovi to some degree.

C: uniform brownish morph with no pattern.

D: fragmented zigzag pattern (see V. s. cantabrica).

Geographic range

Vipera seoanei is found in extreme southwestern France and the northern regions of Spain and Portugal.

The type locality is given as "In montibus Gallaecorum et Cantabrorum...d'Espagne" (the mountains of Galicia and Cantabrici, Spain).

Mertens and Müller (1928) suggested restricting the type locality to "Cabañas, Prov. Caruña, Spanien". According to Golay et al. (1993), this is Cabañas, near Ferrol, A Coruña province, northwestern Spain.

Conservation status

This species, V. seoanei, is classified as Least Concern (LC) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001). It was given this status due to its relatively wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. Year assessed: 2005.

It is, however, listed as a protected species (Appendix III) under the Berne Convention.

Subspecies

References

References

1. Juan M. Pleguezuelos, Paulo Sá-Sousa, Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Rafael Marquez, Marc Cheylan, Philippe Geniez, Iñigo Martínez-Solano. (2009). "''Vipera seoanei''".
2. [[:fr:Roy Wallace McDiarmid. McDiarmid RW]], [[Jonathan A. Campbell. Campbell JA]], [[T'Shaka A. Touré. 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).
3. [[David Mallow (herpetologist). Mallow D]], [[David Ludwig (herpetologist). Ludwig D]], [[Göran Nilson. 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.
4. Steward JW (1971). ''The Snakes of Europe''. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Press (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press). 238 pp. LCCCN 77-163307. {{ISBN. 0-8386-1023-4.
5. Mehrtens JM]] (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. {{ISBN. 0-8069-6460-X.
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. (''Vipera seoanei'', p. 241).
7. {{Redlist species. (2 September). (2007)
8. {{Redlist CC2001. (2 September). (2007)
9. [http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/FR/Treaties/Html/104-3.htm Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Appendix III] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-09-04 at [http://conventions.coe.int/ Council of Europe] {{Webarchive). link. (2015-09-17 . Accessed 9 October 2006.)
10. {{NRDB species