Vipers are found in numerous corners of the globe, and in this episode we explore a little about how they’ve managed it. Starting with pit viper’s use of their heat sensing abilities, moving on to viper reactions to climatic shifts, and finishing up with how they are doing now. Naturally our Species of the Bi-week is a new viper, this time from Africa. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com

Main Paper References:
Martínez-Freiría, F, P.-A. Crochet, S. Fahd, P. Geniez, J.C. Brito, and G. Velo-Antón. 2017. “Integrative Phylogeographic and Ecological Analyses Reveal Multiple Pleistocene Refugia for Mediterranean Daboia Vipers in North-West Africa.” Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 122 (2): 366–384.
Maritz, Bryan, Johannes Penner, Marcio Martins, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailović, Stephen Spear, Laura R.V. Alencar, Jesús Sigala-Rodriguez, et al. 2016. “Identifying Global Priorities for the Conservation of Vipers.” Biological Conservation 204: 94–102.
Safer, Adam B., and Michael S. Grace. 2004. “Infrared Imaging in Vipers: Differential Responses of Crotaline and Viperine Snakes to Paired Thermal Targets.” Behavioural Brain Research 154 (1): 55–61.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Gower, David J., Edward O.Z. Wade, Stephen Spawls, Wolfgang Böhme, Evan R. Buechley, Daniel Sykes, and Timothy J. Colston. 2016. “A New Large Species of Bitis Gray, 1842 (Serpentes: Viperidae) from the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia.” Zootaxa 4093 (1): 41–63.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Alencar, Laura R.V., Tiago B. Quental, Felipe G. Grazziotin, Michael L. Alfaro, Marcio Martins, Mericien Venzon, and Hussam Zaher. 2016. “Diversification in Vipers: Phylogenetic Relationships, Time of Divergence and Shifts in Speciation Rates.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 105: 50–62.
Böhm, Monika, Ben Collen, Jonathan E M Baillie, Philip Bowles, Janice Chanson, Neil Cox, Geoffrey Hammerson, et al. 2013. “The Conservation Status of the World’s Reptiles.” Biological Conservation 157: 372–85.
Breidenbach, Carla Harvey. 1990. “Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Thermal Cues Influence Strikes in Pitless Vipers.” Journal of Herpetology 24 (4): 448–50.
Gracheva, E.O., Ingolia, N.T., Kelly, Y.M., Cordero-Morales, J.F., Hollopeter, G., Chesler, A.T., Sánchez, E.E., Perez, J.C., Weissman, J.S. and Julius, D., 2010. “Molecular basis of infrared detection by snakes.” Nature, 464 (7291): 1006.
Krochmal, A.R. and Bakken, G.S., 2003. “Thermoregulation is the pits: use of thermal radiation for retreat site selection by rattlesnakes.” Journal of Experimental Biology, 206(15): 2539-2545. OPEN ACCESS
Lourdais, O., Shine, R., Bonnet, X., Guillon, M. and Naulleau, G., 2004. “Climate affects embryonic development in a viviparous snake, Vipera aspis.” Oikos, 104 (3): 551-560.
Madsen, Thomas, Bo Stille, and Richard Shine. 1996. “Inbreeding Depression in an Isolated Population of Adders Vipera Berus.” Biological Conservation 75: 113–18.
Madsen, Thomas, Beata Ujvari, and Mats Olsson. 2004. “Novel Genes Continue to Enhance Population Growth in Adders (Vipera Berus).” Biological Conservation 120 (1): 145–47.
Madsen, Thomas, and Beata Ujvari. 2011. “The Potential Demise of a Population of Adders (Vipera Berus) in Smygehuk, Sweden.” Herpetological Conservation and Biology 6 (1): 72–74. OPEN ACCESS
Paulo, O. S., J. Pinheiro, A. Miraldo, M. W. Bruford, W. C. Jordan, and R. A. Nichols. 2008. “The Role of Vicariance vs. Dispersal in Shaping Genetic Patterns in Ocellated Lizard Species in the Western Mediterranean.” Molecular Ecology 17 (6): 1535–51.
Van Dyke, J.U. and Grace, M.S., 2010. “The role of thermal contrast in infrared-based defensive targeting by the copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix.” Animal Behaviour, 79 (5): 993-999.
Williams, David, Wolfgang Wüster, and Bryan Grieg Fry. 2006. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Australian Snake Taxonomists and a History of the Taxonomy of Australia’s Venomous Snakes.” Toxicon 48 (7): 919–30.
Music – Treehouse by Ed Nelson