Field's horned viper, Pseudocerastes fieldi, is a venomous viper species endemic to the deserts of the Middle East. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Persian horned viper. The main differences between this species and the Persian horned viper are in scalation and venom composition.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
Venom is a type of poison, especially one secreted by an animal. It is delivered in a bite, sting, or similar action. Venom has evolved in terrestr...
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starts withOutwardly, Field's horned viper differs from the Persian horned viper (Pseudocerastes persicus ) in certain (lower) scale counts:
Additional differences from the Persian horned viper include much shorter (relatively to the overall body length) tail as well as the fact that while in P. persicus all dorsal and lateral scales are strongly keeled, P. fieldi has several rows of almost smooth lateral scales.
According to McDiarmid et al. (1999) P. fieldi is found in the Sinai Peninsula, Israel, Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia, northwestern Iraq, and possibly in southern Syria.
The type locality given in the original description is "Bair Wells, Transjordania".
According to Mallow et al. (2003) it is found in the Sinai Peninsula, southern Israel, Jordan, extreme northern Saudi Arabia, and southwestern Iraq.
There is a more pronounced difference between the two subspecies with regard to their venom. While Persian horned viper venom exhibits strong hemorrhagic activity typical of most vipers, the venom of P. fieldi is unusual in that contains several fractions that show marked neurotoxic activity. No antivenin is available for bites from either subspecies. It is reported that a polyvalent antiserum does offer some protection from the hemotoxins, but none against the neurotoxic effects of P. fieldi venom.
