Macrovipera lebetinus obtusa

Macrovipera lebetinus obtusa is a venomous viper subspecies^[4] endemic to Asia, from central Turkey to northern Pakistan (Kashmir).

Macrovipera lebetinus obtusa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Genus:	Macrovipera
Species:	M. lebetinus
Subspecies:	M. l. obtusa
Trinomial name
Macrovipera lebetinus obtusa (Dwigubsky, 1832)
Synonyms[1]
Vipera obtusa Dwigubsky, 1832 Vipera lebetina obtusa — Terentjev & Chernov, 1940 Vipera lebetina obtusa — Minton, 1968 Daboia (Daboia) lebetina obtusa — Obst, 1983 Daboia lebetina obtusa — Engelmann et al., 1993 Macrovipera l [ebetina]. obtusa — Golay et al., 1993

Common names: West-Asian blunt-nosed viper,^[2] Levant blunt-nosed viper.^[3]

Description

It can be distinguished from other subspecies of M. lebetina by its higher scale counts — usually 170-175 ventrals, and 25 (sometimes 27) rows of dorsal scales at midbody — and relatively dark color pattern.^[5]

Geographic range

M. l. obtusa.

It is found from central Turkey through Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, northern Jordan, the Caucasus region (incl. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan and rarely Georgia), Iran, southern Afghanistan, Pakistan and Himalayan regions of India. In Pakistan, according to Khan (1983), M. lebetina is restricted to the western highlands; it is allopatric with Daboia russelii, which occurs in the Indus River valley.^[5]