VIPERA (CERASTES) CAUD ALIS.—S m ith .
R e pt il ia .—P late VII.
V. supra flavo-rubra, maculis aurantio-brunneis variegatis; subtus roseus; capite cordiforme, maculis
duabus sagittiformibus notato, cujus una inter oculos, altera super occiput; supercilio singulo squama
aculeate armato; squamis subcaudalibus caudse aliis squamis subsimilibus.
Longitudo, corpris cum capite, 12£ unc; caudse, 1^ unc.
Vipera ocellata, Smith. Magazine of Natural History, new series, vol. ii. Feb. 1838, p. 92.*
C olour.—Above yellowish red, spotted and variegated with other colours ;
beneath pale rose-red with a pearly lustre. The principal spots are disposed
in three irregular rows along the back; those of the centre row oblong, and
somewhat quadrangular; those of the other two more or less circular: They
are of an orange-brown colour, and some of them are partially, others completely
edged with straw-yellow; those of the middle row are in the first condition,
being only margined anteriorly and posteriorly; those of the others
mostly in the state last described, and the majority of them have besides
a lilac coloured point toward their centre. The sides of the body are
faintly freckled with small nebulce, or irregular spots of the same colour as
those of the back, only of a much paler tint, without variegations, and rarely
placed alike in any two specimens. The upper and lateral parts of the head
are variegated with similar colours, only disposed, after a different fashion,
viz. in the form of angular or arrow-shaped markings on the top of the
head, and on the sides in vertical bars. The former are generally two in
number, one between the eyes, and the other on the occiput, and both are
commonly margined anteriorly with cream-yellow. The vertical bars usually
amount to four on each side, three of them cut the upper-lip, and the fourth
generally terminates immediately behind the angle of the mouth. Besides
the arrow-sharped marks with which the top of the head is variegated, there
are usually two, or even more, circular spots intermediate between the markings
particularised, and these are also frequently edged with cream-yellow.
Eyes reddish orange.
In some specimens the ground colour of the upper parts is much darker
than that above described, differing but little from the tint of the spots which,
in such cases, are but indistinctly seen. In others again, the prevailing
* As it does not appear probable that the genus Vipera will ultimately be divisible into subgenera, I
have thought it advisable to substitute for ocellata,—a term which under such circumstances would cause
some confusion,—that of caudalis.