Saharan horned viper

Comment le reconnaître

• A pair of horn-like scales sits above each eye, although some individuals have no horns.1
• Its colour is yellowish, pale grey, pinkish, reddish or pale brown, and almost always matches the sand or soil where it lives.1
• A row of dark, semi-rectangular blotches runs along its back, and the belly is white.1
• Its tail is usually thin and may have a black tip.1
• It moves by sidewinding, pressing its body into the sand and leaving whole-body impressions.1

Souvent confondu avec : Its close relative Cerastes gasperettii was once considered a subspecies of this snake. The Saharan horned viper has a larger head relative to its body and horns are more common in it. When threatened, it rubs its coils together to make a rasping noise, which is similar to the sound made by snakes of the genus Echis, so sound alone does not identify it.1