Pseudocerastes


Pseudocerastes is a genus of venomous vipers endemic to the Middle East and Asia. It was originally a monotypic genus created in 1896 by Boulenger for the species Pseudocerastes persicus. Due to taxonomic revision and recent discovery, the genus may currently contain as many as three species.
Pseudocerastes are often referred to as false horned vipers because of the horn-like structures above their eyes that are made up of numerous small scales. This is in contrast to the "true" horned viper, Cerastes cerastes, which has similar supraorbital "horns", each consisting of a single elongated scale. Two or three species are currently recognized, namely the spider-tailed horned viper in addition to others treated as two distinct species, Pseudocerastes persicus and Pseudocerastes fieldi.

Species

Taxonomy

Many sources elevate P. p. fieldi to species level.
In 2006, Bostanchi, Anderson, Kami and Papenfuss described a new species: P. urarachnoides. It is found in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran and is described as having the most elaborate tail ornamentation of any snake yet described, save for the rattlesnakes, Crotalus and Sistrurus.