Opinion

Brief Report on Steppe Vipers (Viperidae: Vipera/Pelias) and their New Findings in Azerbaijan

T M Iskenderov*

Institute of Zoology of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

Submission: November 26, 2022;Published: December 07, 2022

*Corresponding author: TM Iskenderov, Institute of Zoology of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, AZ-1004, Baku, st. A Abbaszade, passage 1128, quarter 504, Azerbaijan

How to cite this article: T M Iskenderov. Brief Report on Steppe Vipers (Viperidae: Vipera/Pelias) and their New Findings in Azerbaijan. JOJ Wildl Biodivers. 2022: 4(5): 555647. DOI: 10.19080/JOJWB.2022.04.555647

Abstract

KeywordsSteppe vipers; Vipera eriwanensis; Vipera renardi; Vipers, Poisonous snakes

Introduction

The steppe vipers of Azerbaijan were considered for many years as a subspecies of V. u. renardi Christoph, 1861 [1,2] Subsequently, this subspecies was recognized as an independent species - Vipera renardi Christoph, 1861 [3,4]. According to the modern taxonomy of the ophidiofauna of the Caucasus [5], the taxonomic spectrum of the steppe vipers of Azerbaijan currently includes 3 species belonging to the genus of true vipers (Vipera) and the subgenus of corymbs (Pelias): 1. Eastern steppe viper (Steppe viper) Vipera renardi (Christoph, 1861), 2. Armenian viper - Vipera eriwanensis (Reuss, 1933), 3. Lotivi steppe viper Vipera lotievi [3]. The latter species was included in the list of poisonous snakes of Azerbaijan not long ago, after the discovery of this viper in 2016 in the northeastern part of the Greater Caucasus (Guba region) at an altitude of 1966 m above sea level [6].

Opinion

At the same time, two more species of steppe vipers are supposed to be present in Azerbaijan: Vipera ebneri (Knoeppfler, Sochurek) and Vipera dinniki (Nikolsky). Unfortunately, the search for these species of vipers has not yet yielded positive results [7].

In Azerbaijan, steppe vipers are distributed in geographically limited areas and their numbers are low and rare. The habitat of V. renardi in Azerbaijan covers the central-northern and north-eastern parts (Figure 1) of the Greater Caucasus at an altitude of 700-1500m (Alekperov. Aliye). The Armenian viper V.eriwanensis in Azerbaijan occupies the mountain-steppe territories of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (Shahbuz, Julfa and Ordubad regions, altitude 1500-2500m).

Recently, we have been able to identify new localities of V. renardi and V. eriwanensis. In Azerbaijan, localities of V.renardi are known along the southern macroslopes of the Greater Caucasus, mainly in the central and northern parts (Sheki, Shamakhi and Gobustan regions). We have identified new [8] finds in the areas of Shamakhi (village Zarat-Kheibar, N 400 5420, E 480 3209, height 1860m), Ismayilli (village Koydan, N 400 5335, E 480 24.25, height 1564m) and Gubi (with Gyulazi, N 41011.01, E 48027.37, height 1650m). These findings indicate that the range of V.renardi continues in the northeast direction along the southern macroslopes of the Greater Caucasus, and the habitat rises even higher up to 1900m.

A new find of the viper V.eriwanensis has been discovered. Previously, the habitation of V.eriwanensis in the Kalbajar region (Karabakh) was assumed [1]. Not long ago (June 20, 2021) in the vicinity of the village of Seidlyar, Kalbajar region, at an altitude above sea level 1847m, V.eriwanensis was first identified (N 400 11.22, E 460 00.46, altitude above sea level 1847m). Thus, the range of the Armenian viper in Azerbaijan is wider than indicated in the literature [1,2].

References

1. Alekperov AM (1982) The present state of rare and threatened species and subspecies of herpetofauna in Azerbaidzhan Vertebrata Hungarica 21: 19-24
2. Aliev TR, Ganiev FR (1985) Distribution and ecological and morphological features of the steppe viper Vipera ursinii (Bonaparte, 1835) in Azerbaijan. News of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. SSR - Series Biol Sciences 1: 44-50.
3. Nilson G, Tuniyev BS, Orlov NL, Hoggren M, Andren C (1995) Systematics of the Vipers of the Caucasus: Polymorphism or Sibling Species? Asiatic Herpetological Research 6: 1-26
4. Nilson G, Andrén C (2001) The steppe and steppe vipers of Europe and Asia the Vipera (Acridophaga) ursinii complex. Acta Zool 47(2-3): 87-267.
5. Tuniyev BS, Orlov NL, Ananieva NB, Aghsyan AL (2019) Snakes of the Caucasus: taxonomic diversity, distribution, conservation. St Peterburg, KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, Russia, p. 276.
6. Iskenderov TM, Akhmedov SB, Bunyatova SN (2017) Lotiyev's viper (Pelias lotievi, Serpentes, Viperidae) - a new species for the fauna of Azerbaijan. Zoological journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences. M publishing house Nauka 96(1): 121-124.
7. Iskenderov TM, Najafov JA (2022) Modern distribution and abundance of the eastern steppe viper (Vipera renardi Ghristoph, 1861), Squamata, Viperidae) in Azerbaijan. Russian Academy of Sciences, Zoological Journal, Moscow, Russia 101(10): 1155-1161.
8. Bannikov GA, Darevsky IS, Ishchenko VG, Rustamov AK, Shcherbak NN (1977) Key to amphibians and reptiles of the fauna of the USSR, M Enlightenment, p. 414.