Higher classification Vipera | Subphylum Vertebrata Suborder Serpentes Subfamily Viperinae Phylum Chordata Rank Species | |
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Similar Vipers, Snake, Vipera, Reptile, Vipera renardi | ||
Viper attack vipera nikolskii
Vipera nikolskii is a venomous viper species endemic to Ukraine, eastern Romania, and southwestern Russia. No subspecies are currently recognized.
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vipera nikolskii
Etymology
The specific name, nikolskii, is in honor of Russian herpetologist Alexander Mikhailovich Nikolsky.
Description
Adults of V. nikolskii are short and thick-bodied, growing to a maximum total length (body + tail) of 680 mm (27 in).
Holotype: ZDKU 14704, according to Golay et al. (1993).
Geographic range
V. nikolskii is found in Central Ukraine and southwestern Russia. Mallow et al. (2003) mention that the distribution is concentrated in the forest-steppe zone of the Charkov region in Ukraine.
The type locality, according to Golay et al. (1993), is the banks of the Uda River, between Besljudovka and Vasishtshevo, near Kharkov.
Also, Vipera nikolskii was recently found in the eastern and southern part of Romania (even in Bucharest / Vacaresti Natural Reservation Park) and Basarabia (Republic of Moldova) by Zinenko et al. (2010) and Strugariu & Zamfirescu (2008).