The Moorish viper (''Daboia mauritanica'' or ''Macrovipera mauritanica''; common names: Moorish viper,Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 359 pp. . Sahara rock viper,U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 203 pp. . Atlas blunt-nosed viper,Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. .

more More may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka Shade, ...

) is a

viper Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipe ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

found in northwestern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. No subspecies are currently recognized. Macrovipera mauritanica IMG 5087

Description

Reaches a maximum length of 180 cm.Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. .

Common names

Moorish viper, Sahara rock viper, Atlas blunt-nosed viper, Atlas adder,Brown JH. 1973. Toxicology and Pharmacology of Venoms from Poisonous Snakes. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 184 pp. LCCCN 73-229. . mountain adder.

Geographic range

Northwestern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. The type locality is "Algiers", according to Gray (1842), "Algeria" according to Schwarz (1936). Limited to the coastal regions of Algeria. Coastal records from Tunisia may refer to '' M. deserti''.

Conservation status

This species is classified as Near Threatened (NT) according to the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001). Classified as such because this species is likely in significant decline (but at a rate of less than 30% over ten years) due to persecution, accidental mortality and

over-harvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

, therefore making it close to qualifying for Vulnerable. The population trend is down. Year assessed: 2005.

Taxonomy

Based on molecular evidence, Lenk et al. (2001) suggested that this species, along with '' M. deserti'', should rather be included in the genus ''

Daboia ''Daboia'' is a genus of vipers.. Species The following four species are recognized as being valid: *'' Daboia mauritanica'' – Moorish viper *'' Daboia palaestinae'' – Palestine viper *''Daboia russelii'' – Russell's viper *''Daboia s ...

''.

References

External links

* * . Accessed 9 September 2007. {{Taxonbar, from=Q222401 Daboia Snakes of Africa Reptiles of North Africa Reptiles described in 1848 Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril