Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries

What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Family | Viperidae |
| Genus | Vipera (1) |
Darevsky’s viper (Vipera darevskii) is a small, secretive species of venomous snake. As is characteristic of most European vipers, Darevsky’s viper is adorned with a distinctive brown zigzag pattern along its back (2). This species has a dark streak extending from the eye to the neck, which terminates before the beginning of the zig-zag body pattern. It also has a conspicuous row of light brown spots along each side of the body that often merge into a continuous stripe (2).
Darevsky’s viper is named in honour of Ilya Darevsky who discovered an isolated population of the species later formally described as Vipera darevskii (3) (4).
As with all vipers, Darevsky’s viper possesses a pair of hollow, folding fangs, which are used to inject venom into both prey and predators (2). Venom is stored in glands located behind the eye on either side of the head (2). The characteristic zigzag dorsal body pattern of vipers serves two purposes: to camouflage the snake, and to act as a warning signal to potential predators when the snake is spotted (6) (7).
Darevsky’s viper must acquire body heat from the environment to sustain its daily activities, and it therefore spends some of the day basking in the sun (2). As in other European vipers, this basking behaviour typically occurs in the morning (8), shortly after the viper emerges from its overnight retreat site (2).
Due to the small range and rare nature of Darevsky’s viper, little is known of the feeding behaviour of this species (2). It is suspected to feed on similar prey items to other European vipers of the same size, such as reptiles and amphibians (2), both of which are present in the habitat of Darevsky’s viper (8).
TopDarevsky’s viper is endemic to the Caucasus region that lies between the Black Sea in the west and the Caspian Sea in the east, on the border of Europe and Asia (1).
There are seven known populations of Darevsky’s viper in Armenia, patchily distributed in the south-eastern Javakhet Mountain Range at elevations of 2,100 to 2,700 metres above sea level (1). There is one confirmed population in eastern Artvin Vilayet, Turkey (5), but reports of this species’ presence in Georgia require confirmation (1).
TopDarevsky’s viper is a highly montane species (1), typically inhabiting subalpine and alpine meadows, interspersed with outcrops of volcanic rock scree (1) (2).
TopDarevsky’s viper is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List (1).
TopThe predominant threat facing Darevsky’s viper is overgrazing of vegetation by domestic animals in its restricted habitat, although the recently described population in Turkey may also be threatened by collection for the pet trade (1).
Populations of Darevsky’s viper are considered to be in decline, which, coupled with its extremely small range, places this viper at very high risk of extinction (1).
TopDarevsky’s viper is protected from the international pet trade in Armenia, but this appears to be the extent of its current protection (1). However, there is a planned transnational park between Armenia and Georgia that encompasses this species’ range and should provide some level of protection (1).
Recommended conservation measures for Darevsky’s viper include establishing new protected areas to conserve suitable areas of habitat, particularly for the recently discovered population in Turkey. In addition, measures should be taken to prevent overgrazing by domestic livestock within this species’ range (1).
Further studies to confirm the presence or absence of Darevsky’s viper in Georgia and to locate additional populations elsewhere within its range are also required (1).
TopFind out more about reptile conservation:
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
More »Related species
Image credit
© Tigran Tadevosyan
Tigran Tadevosyan
164 Walnut St. Apt. 3
Watertown
MA 02472
United States of America
Tel: 1-617-393-3738
ttadevosyan@gmail.com
http://www.herp-am.narod.ru
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.