# Atractaspis

    Common names: burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers, more.
Atractaspis is a genus of venomous snakes in the family Atractaspidae, also known as the stiletto snakes. The genus is endemic to Africa and the Middle East. The genus contains 15 species that are recognized by ITIS. Others recognize as many as 21 species. 23 are listed here.

## Common names

Common names for snakes of the genus Atractaspis include burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers, stiletto snakes, side-stabbing snakes, side-stabbers. "Side stabbing" refers to the snakes' uncommon ability to strike with the side of their head and inject venom with one protruding fang.

## Geographic range

Species of the genus Atractaspis are found mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a limited distribution in the Jordan valley in Israel, Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula.

## Description

Members of the genus Atractaspis share the following characteristics. Venom fangs enormously developed; a few teeth on the palatines, none on the pterygoids; mandibles edentulous anteriorly, with 2 or 3 very small teeth in the middle of the dentary bone. Postfrontal bone absent. Head small, not distinct from neck, covered with large symmetrical shields; nostril between 2 nasals; no loreal; eye minute, with round pupil. Body cylindrical; dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, in 17 to 37 rows; ventrals rounded. Tail short; subcaudals either single or in two rows.

## Species

| Species | Taxon author* | Subspecies** | Common name | Geographic range |
| A. andersonii | Boulenger, 1905 | | | Oman, Yemen |
| A. aterrima | Günther, 1863 | ———— | slender burrowing asp | Africa: from Senegal and the Gambia east to DR Congo and Uganda. |
| A. battersbyi | de Witte, 1959 | ———— | Battersby's burrowing asp | Africa: Bolobo, on the Congo River basin, DR Congo. |
| A. bibronii | A. Smith, 1849 | bibronii rostrata | Bibron's burrowing asp | Southern Africa, from central Namibia, east to northern South Africa, north to south-eastern DR Congo, eastern Tanzania, coastal Kenya, and extreme southern coastal Somalia. |
| A. boulengeri | Mocquard, 1897 | matschiensis mixta schmidti schultzei vanderborghti | Central African burrowing asp | Africa: the forests of the western Congo River basin. |
| A. branchi | Rödel et al., 2019 | | Branch's stiletto snake | Africa: from Liberia to Guinea |
| A. congica | W. Peters, 1877 | leleupi orientalis | Congo burrowing asp | Africa: from the mouth of the Congo River south to Angola, south-eastern DR Congo and northern Zambia. |
| A. corpulenta | (Hallowell, 1854) | kivuensis leucura | fat burrowing asp | Africa: from Liberia to Ghana and from Nigeria eastwards to north-eastern DR Congo. |
| A. dahomeyensis | Bocage, 1887 | ———— | Dahomey burrowing asp | Africa: from southwestern Cameroon, north and west through Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, north-western Ivory Coast, south-western Burkina Faso and south-central Mali. |
| A. duerdeni | Gough, 1907 | ———— | Duerden's burrowing asp | Africa in two isolated populations: one in north-central Namibia and one in south-eastern Botswana and northern South Africa. |
| A. engaddensis | Haas, 1950 | | En-Gedi asp, alasawad alkhabith | Asia: Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon |
| A. engdahli | Lönnberg & Andersson, 1913 | ———— | Engdahl's burrowing asp | Africa: southern Somalia and the lower Juba Valley northwest into northeastern Kenya. |
| A. fallax | W. Peters, 1867 | ———— | | Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia |
| A. irregularis | (J.T. Reinhardt, 1843) | angeli bipostocularis conradsi parkeri uelensis | variable burrowing asp | Africa: from Liberia to Ghana, from Nigeria east to Uganda, southern Sudan, and western and central Kenya, and south to north-eastern Tanzania, DR Congo and north-western Angola. |
| A. leucomelas | Boulenger, 1895 | ———— | Ogaden burrowing asp | Africa: eastern Ethiopia, northwestern Somalia and Djibouti. |
| A. magrettii | Scortecci, 1928 | | | western Eritrea, northwestern Ethiopia, south-eastern Sudan |
| A. microlepidota | Günther, 1866 | | small-scaled burrowing asp | Africa: Senegal, Gambia, southern Mauritania, and western Mali |
| A. micropholis | Günther, 1872 | | | Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria |
| A. phillipsi | Barbour, 1913 | | | south-eastern Sudan |
| A. reticulata | Sjöstedt, 1896 | brieni heterochilus | reticulate burrowing asp | Central Africa: from southern Cameroon, east to eastern DR Congo and south to Angola. |
| A. scorteccii | Parker, 1949 | ———— | Somali burrowing asp | Africa: eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia. |
| A. watsoni | Boulenger, 1908 | | Watson' s Burrowing Asp | Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal |
*) A taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Atractaspis. **) Not including the nominate subspecies.