Investigation of Morphological Characters of Cerastes gasperettii Leviton & S. Anderson, ۱۹۶۷ (Reptilia: Serpentes: Viperidae) in Iran

Introduction: Iran has a high diversity of snake species. One of the snake families that has not only environmental but also medical importance in Iran is the Viperidae family, which is known as vipers in the world and most snakebites by members of this family occur in Iran because they are widely distributed in this country. All members of this family are venomous. There are various genera of vipers in Iran, one of which is Cerastes, which is represented by only one species in Iran. Cerastes gasperettii is one of the venomous snakes of the Viperidae family found in Iran, and little research has been done on this species. This species has a limited distribution in Iran, only in two provinces, and the distinctive appearance of this snake has made it famous. Few and outdated morphological data on this snake are available in Iran, therefore this research was designed to investigate the morphological characters of C. gasperettii. Materials & Methods: For this purpose, the living specimens in the natural habitat and the museum specimens in the Venomous Animals Department Museum of the Razi Institute of Iran were examined for their morphological characteristics. All the live specimens in their natural habitats. Results: Eleven specimens were examined. Single and divided anal plates occurred in ۲۷.۲% and ۷۲.۸% of specimens, respectively. Horned and hornless morphs comprised ۵۴.۵% and ۴۵.۵%, respectively. Dorsal scale rows at midbody were ۳۱ in ۶۳.۶% and ۳۳ in ۳۶.۴% of specimens. One live specimen regurgitated a smaller C. gasperettii, documenting cannibalism. Conclusion:This study provides new data in the field of morphological variation in C. gasperettii in Iran including the lower percentage of the single anal plate morph, a high percentage of horned morphs and finding just ۳۱-۳۳ dorsal scales in the midbody in the populations of horned vipers and also a report of cannibalism in this species in Iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

Cerastes gasperettii ، Iran ، Morphology ، Meristic ، Viperidae