Reptiles Database

Daboia russelii SHAW & NODDER, 1797

                 
 

Higher Taxa

Viperidae, Serpentes (snakes

Subspecies

Daboia russelii russelii (SHAW 1797)
Daboia russelii formosensis (MAKI 1931)
Daboia russelii limitis (MERTENS 1927)
Daboia russelii pulchella (GRAY 1842)
Daboia russelii siamensis (SMITH 1917

Common Name

E: Russel’s Viper
G: Kettenviper

Synonym

Coluber Russelii [sic] SHAW & NODDER 1797
Daboia Russellii GRAY 1849
Daboia elegans — SHORTT 1863: 384
Vipera Russellii STRAUCH 1869
Vipera russelli — SMITH 1943: 482
Vipera russelli nordicus DERANIYAGALA 1945
Daboia russellii — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 434
Daboia russelii — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 371
Vipera russelli — SHARMA 2004
Daboia nordicus — THORPE et al. 2007

Daboia russeli formosensis (MAKI 1931)
Vipera russelli formosensis MAKI 1931

Daboia russeli limitis (MERTENS 1927)
Vipera russelli limitis MERTENS 1927

Daboia russeli russelli (SHAW 1797)
Coluber russelii SHAW 1797
Daboia russelli russelli — WELCH 1994: 51

Daboia russeli siamensis (SMITH 1917)
Vipera russelli siamensis SMITH 1917
Vipera russelli sublimitis KOPSTEIN 1936
Daboia russelli siamensis— WELCH 1994: 51
Daboia russelii siamensis — COX et al. 1998: 18
Daboia russellii [sic] siamensis — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 221
Daboia sublimitis — THORPE et al. 2007

Location

Pakistan,
India, Sri Lanka (elevation up to 1500 m), Bangladesh,
Indonesia (Java, Komodo, Flores, Lomblen, Endeh),
Myanmar (= Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos
China (Kwangtung), Taiwan

siamensis: China (Kwantung), Myanmar (= Burma), Indonesia (E Java, Komodo, Flores, Lomblen, Endeh), Thailand, Taiwan, Cambodia (fide WELCH 1994)

Type locality: Coromandel Coast [India

Holotype

Comment

Venomous! Possibly the most common of the dangerously venomous snakes occurring in southern Asia, and responsible for more than half of all reported snakebites.

Wüster (1998) recognized only russelii and siamensis as subspecies.

Etymology: Named for Patrick Russell [sic!], author of “Indian Serpents” (1796). However, SHAW consistently spelled both Russell and the species epithet with a single “l”, therefore the name has to be russeli in accordance with the Code. For an extensive discussion of the nomenclatural history of this species see MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999 and ADLER et al. 2000.

Daboia elegans Gray, 1842 is the type species of the genus Daboia GRAY 1842.

DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS (DIAGNOSIS).— No sensory pit between nostril and eye; head very distinct from neck, above covered by small, keeled, imbricate scales, 6–9 between narrow supraoculars; nostril large, in large nasal shield which, below, is fused to the rostral; eye, with vertically elliptic pupil, surrounded by 10–15 small scales, 3–4 rows of small scales separating the circumocular scales from the upper labials; temporals small; 10–12 upper labials; 27–33 longitudinal rows of scales at midbody, all except outmost row strongly keeled; ventrals 153–180; subcaudals 41–64, all paired; color above light brown with 3 longitudinal series of large black-margined brown spots or blotches, the vertebral series often merging to form a chain-like longitudinal stripe, occasionally an additional longitudinal series of small dark spots between vertebral and lateral series; yellowish white below occasionally with dark brown markings. Total length to 1600 mm are not uncommon (fide Smith 1943:484). [after LEVITON 2003]

Reproduction: ovoviviparous, 5-50 live offspring

References
  • Adler, K., Hobart M. Smith, S. H. Prince, P. David & D. Chiszar 2000. Russell's Viper: Daboia russelii not Daboia russellii, due to Classical Latin rules. Hamadryad, 25(2): 83-85.
  • Avadhani, R. 2005. Snakes of India. Reptilia (GB) (41): 32-37
  • Avadhani, R. 2006. Vipera russelli - The dreaded Russell’s viper. Reptilia (GB) (46): 50-53
  • Bannermann, W.B. 1907. Note on the Breeding of Snakes in captivity. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 208
  • Chan-ard,T.; Grossmann,W.; Gumprecht,A. & Schulz,K. D. 1999. Amphibians and reptiles of peninsular Malaysia and Thailand - an illustrated checklist [bilingual English and German]. Bushmaster Publications, Würselen, Gemany, 240 pp.
  • Cox, Merel J.; Van Dijk, Peter Paul; Jarujin Nabhitabhata & Thirakhupt,Kumthorn 1998. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Ralph Curtis Publishing, 144 pp.
  • Das, I. & De Silva, A. 2005. Photographic guide to snakes and other reptiles of Sri Lanka. New Holland Publishers, 144 pp.
  • de Silva, A. 1998. Snakes of Sri Lanka: a checklist and an annotated bibliography. Dept. Wildlife Conservation/GEF/UNDP/FAO, Colombo.
  • Dowling,H.G. 1993. The name of Russel's viper. Amphibia-Reptilia 14: 320
  • Janzen, P.; Klaas, P. & Ziesmann, S. 2007. Sri Lankas Schlangenfauna. Draco 7 (30): 56-64
  • Jayakody, RL. 2001. Russell of Russell's Viper Fame. Ceylon Medical Journal 46 (2):39-40
  • Khan, M.S. 1983. Venomous terrestrial snakes of Pakistan The Snake 15(2): 101-105.
  • Leviton, Alan E.; Guinevere O.U. Wogan; Michelle S. Koo; George R. Zug; Rhonda S. Lucas and Jens V. Vindum 2003. The Dangerously Venomous Snakes of Myanmar Illustrated Checklist with Keys. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 54 (24): 407–462
  • Maki, M. 1931. Monograph of the Snakes of Japan. Dai-ichi Shobo, Tokyo. (1), 7, 240 pages (expanded edition 1933)
  • Manthey, U. & Grossmann, W. 1997. Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 512 pp.
  • McDiarmid,R.W.; Campbell,J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Mertens, R. 1927. Herpetologische Mitteilungen XVIII. Zur Verbreitung der Vipera russelii SHAW. Senckenbergiana biologica 19:182-184.
  • Norval, G.; Chu, H.P.; Bursey, C.R.; Goldberg, S.R.; Cheng, M.H. & Mao, J.J. 2008. Kalicephalus sp. von einer Kettenviper (Vipera russellii siamensis SMITH 1917) in Taiwan. Sauria 30 (2): 41-44
  • Sharma, R. C. 2004. Handbook Indian Snakes. AKHIL BOOKS, New Delhi, 292 pp.
  • Shaw,G. & Nodder,F.P. 1797. Naturalists miscellany 9: plate 291
  • Shortt 1861. Letter respecting an Indian snake [Daboia elegans]. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1861: 265-266
  • Shortt 1863. ... A short account of the viper Daboia elegans (Vipera Russellii)... Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 11: 384-385
  • Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia. 3 (Serpentes). Taylor and Francis, London. 583 pp.
  • Smith,M.A. 1917. Descriptions of new reptiles and a new batrachian from Siam. J. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam 2: 221-225
  • Taylor,E.H. 1965. The serpents of Thailand and adjacent waters. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 45 (9): 609-1096
  • Thorpe, S Roger, Pook, E Catharine, Malhotra, Anita 2007. Phylogeography of the Russell's viper (Daboia russelii) complex in relation to variation in the colour pattern and symptoms of envenoming. Herpetological Journal 17 (4): 209-218
  • Wall, F. 1907. A Popular Treatise on the Common Indian Snakes. Part V. The Russell's Viper (Vipera russellii). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 1-18
  • Whitaker, Romulus and Ashok Captain 2004. Snakes of India. Draco Books, 500 pp.
  • Winchell, S. 2003. Die vielfältige Welt chinesischer Schlangen. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (6): 20-29
  • Winchell, S. 2003. The wide world of snakes in China. Reptilia (GB) (31): 12-21
  • Wüster, Wolfgang 1998. The genus Daboia (Serpentes: Viperidae): Russell's Viper Hamadryad 23 (1): 33-40
  • Wuster, Wolfgang, Satoko Otsuka, Anita Malhotra, and Roger S. Thorpe 1992. Population Systematics of Russell's Viper: A Multivariate Study. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 47 (1):97-113
  • Wuster, Wolfgang; Otsuka, Satoko; Thorpe, Roger S.; Malhotra, Anita 1992. Morphological Variation in Russell's Viper in Burma and Thailand. Herpetological Journal 2 (3):99-101


 
 
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