Vipera aspis atra

Vipera aspis atra
Conservation status
	; Vulnerable (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata;
Subphylum:	Vertebrata;
Class:	Reptilia;
Order:	Squamata;
Suborder:	Serpentes;
Family:	Viperidae;
Subfamily:	Viperinae;
Genus:	Vipera;
Species:	V. aspis;
Subspecies:	V. a. atra;
Trinomial name
	Vipera aspis atra; Meisner, 1820
Synonyms
	Vipera atra - Meisner, 1820; Vipera aspis atra - Meisner, 1820; Vipera aspis var. nigra - 1834; Vipera aspis var. rubriventris - Bonaparte, 1834; Vipera aspis var. nigra - Massalongo, 1854; Vipera aspis var. immaculata - Calderini, 1878; Vipera aspis var. Calderinii - De Betta, 1879; [Vipera aspis] var. infernalis - Müller, 1880; Mesovipera morathi lepontica - Reuss, 1938; Vipera (Rhinaspis) aspis atra - Obst, 1983; Vipera aspis typus - Golay et al., 1993;

Common names: (none).

Vipera aspis atra is a venomous viper subspecies^[2] found in France, Switzerland and Italy.^[3]

Geographic range

Western Switzerland, northwestern Italy and southeastern France.^[3] Mallow et al. (2003) describes the range only as "portions of Switzerland."^[4]

This subspecies is classified as Vulnerable (VU) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).^[5]^[6]

A recent study by Ursenbacher et al. (2006) suggests that V. a. atra may not be a valid subspecies.^[5]

↑ McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
↑ Vipera aspis atra (TSN 635251). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 15 August 2006.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Species Vipera aspis at the Species2000 Database
↑ Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 359 pp. ISBN 0-89464-877-2.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Vipera aspis at IUCN Red List. Accessed 6 October 2006.
↑ 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1)IUCN Red List. Accessed 6 October 2006.

Ursenbacher S, Conelli A, Golay P, Monney JC, Zuffi MAL, Thiery G, Durand T, Fumagalli L. 2006. Phylogeography of the asp viper (Vipera aspis) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence data: Evidence for multiple Mediterranean refugial areas. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 38(2):546-552.