Bitis
Genus of snakes
title: "Bitis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bitis", "snake-genera", "snakes-of-africa", "taxa-named-by-john-edward-gray", "snakes-of-arabia"] description: "Genus of snakes" topic_path: "general/bitis" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of snakes ::
| image = Bitis arietans.jpg | image_caption = Bitis arietans | taxon = Bitis | authority = Gray, 1842 | range_map = Bitis distribution map.png | synonyms = * Cobra Laurenti, 1768
- Echidna Merrem, 1820
- Clotho Gray, 1842
- Bitis Gray, 1842
- Echidne A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844
- Hallowellius A.F. Reuss, 1939
- Macrocerastes A.F. Reuss, 1939 | synonyms_ref =
Bitis is a genus of vipers found in Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. It includes the largest and the smallest vipers in the world. Members are known for their characteristic threat displays that involve inflating and deflating their bodies while hissing and puffing loudly. The type species for this genus is B. arietans, which is also the most widely distributed viper in Africa. Currently, 18 species are recognized.
Members of the genus are commonly known as African adders, African vipers, or puff adders.
Description
Size variation within this genus is extreme, ranging from the very small B. schneideri, which grows to a maximum of 28 cm and is perhaps the world's smallest viperid, to the very large B. gabonica, which can attain a length over 2 m and is the heaviest viper in the world.
All have a wide, triangular head with a rounded snout, distinct from the neck, and covered in small, keeled, imbricated scales. The canthus is also distinct. A number of species have enlarged rostral or supraorbital scales that resemble horns. Their eyes are relatively small. They have large nostrils that are directed outwards and/or upwards. Up to six rows of small scales separate the rostral and nasal scales. All species have a well-developed supranasal sac. The fronts of the maxillary bones are very short, supporting only one pair of recurved fangs.
These snakes are moderately to extremely stout. Their bodies are covered with keeled scales that are imbricated (overlapping) with apical pits. At midbody, the dorsal scales number 21–46. Laterally, the dorsal scales may be slightly oblique. The ventral scales, which number 112–153, are large, rounded, and sometimes have slight lateral keels. Their tails are short. The anal scale is single. The paired subcaudal scales number 16-37 and are sometimes keeled laterally.
Geographic range
Puff adders are found in Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula.
Behavior
Bitis species are known for their behavior of inflating and deflating their bodies in loud hissing or puffing threat displays. They are terrestrial ambush predators, and appear sluggish, but can strike with amazing speed. In contrast to the pitvipers of the subfamily Crotalinae, Bitis species appear to lack heat-sensitive organs and showed no differences in their behavior in laboratory tests towards warm and cool objects that mimicked prey.
The rectilinear locomotion is very common in many Bitis species.
Reproduction
All members are viviparous and some give birth to large numbers of offspring.
Venom
All members of this genus are dangeroussome extremely so. At least six different polyvalent antivenoms are available. Five are produced by Aventis Pasteur (France), Pasteur Merieux (France) and SAIMR (South Africa). All of these specifically protect against B. arietans and four also cover B. gabonica. At least one protects specifically against bites from B. nasicornis: India Antiserum Africa Polyvalent. In the past, such antivenoms have been used to treat bites from other Bitis species, but with mixed results.
Species
::data[format=table]
| Image | Species | Taxon author | Subsp.* | Common name | Geographic range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. albanica | Hewitt, 1937 | 0 | Albany adder | Republic of South Africa, Eastern Cape Province from Port Elizabeth to near Committees. | |
| [[File:Kopf einer Puffotter.JPG | 120px]] | *B. arietans*T | (Merrem, 1820) | 1 | Puff adder |
| [[File:Bitis armata 46045953.jpg | 120px]] | B. armata | (A. Smith, 1826) | 0 | Southern adder |
| [[File:Bitis atropos00.jpg | 120px]] | B. atropos | (Linnaeus, 1758) | 0 | Berg adder |
| [[File:Bitis caudalis00a.jpg | 120px]] | B. caudalis | (A. Smith, 1839) | 0 | Horned adder |
| [[File:Bitis cornuta 15131892.jpg | 120px]] | B. cornuta | (Daudin, 1803) | 0 | Many-horned adder |
| [[File:Bitis gabonica.jpg | 120px]] | B. gabonica | (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) | 0 | Gaboon viper |
| B. harenna | Gower, Wade, Spawls, Böhme, Buechley, Sykes, & Colston, 2016 | 0 | Bale Mountains adder | Ethiopia | |
| B. heraldica | (Bocage, 1889) | 0 | Angolan adder | The high plateau of central Angola | |
| [[File:Bitis_inornata.jpg | 120px]] | B. inornata | (A. Smith, 1838) | 0 | Plain mountain adder |
| [[File:Viperidae - Bitis nasicornis.JPG | 120px]] | B. nasicornis | (Shaw, 1792) | 0 | Rhinoceros viper |
| [[File:Viperidae - Bitis parviocula.JPG | 120px]] | B. parviocula | Böhme, 1977 | 0 | Ethiopian mountain adder |
| [[File:Namibian Sidewinder Bitis peringueyi.jpg | 120px]] | B. peringueyi | (Boulenger, 1888) | 0 | Peringuey's desert adder |
| [[File:Bitis gabonica-- the Gaboon Viper (22009086901).jpg | 120px]] | B. rhinoceros | (Schlegel, 1855) | 0 | West African Gaboon viper |
| [[File:Bitis rubida 15741585.jpg | 120px]] | B. rubida | Branch, 1997 | 0 | Red adder |
| [[File:Bitis schneideri 87936651.jpg | 120px]] | B. schneideri | (Boettger, 1886) | 0 | Namaqua dwarf adder |
| [[File:Bitis worthingtoni.jpg | 120px]] | B. worthingtoni | Parker, 1932 | 0 | Kenya horned viper |
| [[File:Bitis xeropaga 15273955.jpg | 120px]] | B. xeropaga | Haacke, 1975 | 0 | Desert mountain adder |
| :: |
*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
T) Type species.
Taxonomy
Lenk et al. (1999) used molecular data (immunological distances and mitochondrial DNA sequences) to estimate the phylogenetic relationships among species of Bitis. They identified four major monophyletic groups for which they created four subgenera:
- Bitis – B. arietans
- Calechidna – B. albanica, B. armata, B. atropos, B. caudalis, B. cornuta, B. heraldica, B. inorata, B. peringueyi, B. rubida, B. schneideri, B. xeropaga
- Macrocerastes – B. gabonica, B. nasicornis, B. parviocula
- Keniabitis – B. worthingtoni
References
References
- McDiarmid RW, [[Jonathan A. Campbell. Campbell JA]], Touré T. 1999. ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN. 1-893777-00-6 (series). {{ISBN. 1-893777-01-4 (volume).{{Page needed. (August 2011)
- {{ITIS
- Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. {{ISBN. 0-89464-877-2.{{Page needed. (August 2011)
- Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. ''The Dangerous Snakes of Africa''. Dubai: Ralph Curtis Books. Oriental Press. 192 pp. {{ISBN. 0-88359-029-8.{{Page needed. (August 2011)
- U.S. Navy. 1965. ''Poisonous Snakes of the World''. Washington, District of Columbia: United States Government Printing Office. 212 pp.{{Page needed. (August 2011)
- (2004). "Infrared imaging in vipers: Differential responses of crotaline and viperine snakes to paired thermal targets". Behavioural Brain Research.
- (2004). "Heat in evolution's kitchen: evolutionary perspectives on the functions and origin of the facial pit of pitvipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae)". Journal of Experimental Biology.
- [http://www.toxinfo.org/antivenoms/indication/BITIS_ARIETANS.html ''Bitis arietans'' antivenoms] at [http://www.toxinfo.org/antivenoms/ Munich AntiVenom INdex]. Accessed 25 August 2006.
- [http://www.toxinfo.org/antivenoms/indication/BITIS_GABONICA.html ''Bitis gabonica'' antivenoms] at [http://www.toxinfo.org/antivenoms/ Munich AntiVenom INdex]. Accessed 25 August 2006.
- [http://www.venomousreptiles.org/pages/antbnk Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit] {{Webarchive. link. (20 December 2008 at [http://www.venomousreptiles.org/ VenomousReptiles.org] {{Webarchive). link. (9 April 2008 . Accessed 5 September 2006.)
- Largen, M., and Spawls, S. 2010. ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea.'' Frankfurt am Main: Edition Chimara. {{ISBN. 978-3-89973-466-9{{Page needed. (August 2011)
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