Vipera

Vipera is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The genus has a very wide range, being found from North Africa to just within the Arctic Circle, and from Great Britain to Pacific Asia. The Latin name vīpera is possibly derived from the Latin words vivus and pario, meaning "alive" and "bear" or "bring forth"; likely a reference to the fact that most vipers bear live young. 21 species are recognized as being valid. Like all other vipers, the members of this genus are venomous.

Vipera

Felix Reimann · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ViperinaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 22 million years on record.

The record covers at least 22.4 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 179 occurrencesMiocene — about 90 of 179 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 33 of 179 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 55 of 179 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 1 occurrence23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 6 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 7 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 4 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 4 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 7 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 6 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 5 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 5 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 7 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 10 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 11 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 9 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 8 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 35 occurrences22.4 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

179 occurrences of Vipera on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

179 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

21 formations

Upper Freshwater Molasse — 48.44°N, 11.04°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.63°N, 11.80°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 47.67°N, 8.93°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°EAkzhar — 48.02°N, 85.38°EEdelény — 48.39°N, 20.64°EVille — 50.90°N, 6.45°Efacies à Congeria — 45.05°N, 7.93°EColombacci — 44.22°N, 11.77°EMost — 50.42°N, 13.36°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EKhalagai — 53.15°N, 110.20°ECórcoles — 40.47°N, 2.68°WLefkon — 41.17°N, 23.50°EAgenais Limestone — 44.31°N, 0.61°EStudienka — 48.20°N, 17.98°EPerfugas — 40.72°N, 9.10°EWiesbaden — 50.04°N, 8.27°ECigarron — 37.92°N, 1.16°WUnterer Travertin — 50.97°N, 11.35°EChoremi — 37.38°N, 22.09°EDetritic-Carbonated Unit of Subirats — 41.42°N, 1.81°ECapo Mannu dune complex — 40.03°N, 8.40°E

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The named rock units Vipera has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 148 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Vipera and its relatives

Miocene

Where Vipera and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,628 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 146 sites for Vipera, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

77 references

Each of the 179 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 65 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Vipera

Credit
Felix Reimann
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Vipera aspis · UMMZ:Herps:116957

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itViperinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Laurenti 1768