Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Vertebrata Order Squamata Scientific name Atheris mabuensis | Phylum Chordata Class Reptilia Suborder Serpentes Rank Species | |
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Similar Atheris desaixi, Atheris hirsuta, Adenorhinos, Atheris nitschei, Atheris chlorechis | ||
Atheris mabuensis, or the Mount Mabu forest viper, is a species of venomous snake in the family Viperidae. It is endemic to Mozambique.
Discovery
During his second reconnaissance visit to Mount Mabu (23–26 January 2006) Dr. Julian Bayliss found a very young forest viper in leaf litter on the floor of closed-canopy wet forest on Mount Mabu at approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). On examination in the Port Elizabeth Museum (BayWorld, acronym PEM) herpetological collection by Prof. Bill Branch, the specimen was identified as a member of the genus Atheris, which had never previously been recorded from Mozambique and which, moreover, represented a substantial southern range extension for the genus.
References
Atheris mabuensis Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA