Endangered
Bitis parviocula
Bitis parviocula
Bitis parviocula is a venomous viper species found only in Ethiopia.
Appearance
The head is long, flat, triangular and covered with small, strongly keeled scales. The dorsal scales are keeled and are arranged in 37–39 rows at midbody. The color pattern consists of a light brown to dark brown ground color, overlaid with a series of black hexagons or diamonds that run down the center of the back.
Of the first three specimens, the maximum recorded total length (body + tail) was 75.2 cm (29.6 in), but it is now known to reach a total length of at least 130 cm (51 in).
Range and habitat
Known from only five localities in Ethiopia, it is found on both sides of the Rift Valley, both in the Bale Mountains to the east and between Bonga and Jimma to the west. The type locality is given as "Doki River bridge (8°20′N 35°56′E), bei Yambo (=Yembo), an der Straße von Metu nach Bedelle, Provinz Illubabor, SW-Äthiopien". Of the three specimens known in 1995, two were found in forested areas west of the Rift Valley and one was found in grassland to the east.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Habits
Mostly unknown, its behavior is assumed to be terrestrial and nocturnal.
In crisis
Bitis parviocula is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Bitis parviocula, Wikidata item Q257576. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
