Werner & Sivan, 1999
Common name. Not determined.
Diagnosis. Occipital
tubercles and supraocular horns always absent; upper labials 12-13; lower
labials 13-15; 12-14 scales
surrounding the eye; 31-35 scale rows at midbody; ventrals 146-158-,anal divided: subcaudals divided and vary from 31-36. Extremely short tail. Sexual
dimorphism appear clearly: Males in
comparison with females have shorter snout-vent length, longer tail, dorsal
scale length dorsals at midbody, less ventrals
and more caudals. Adult snout-vent length measures 443mm; tail is 50-66 mm. Coloration: Irregular small dark dots with irregular shapes and sizes are scattered
on head. Laterally dark band is accentuated by whitish upper margin
extending between the eye corners of mouth. Dorsal background is sandy beige. Dorsal pattern differs within and among
members of this subspecies. Middorsal blotches are represented by two
dorsolateral series of smaller roundish blotches alternately positioned on left and right sides. These may form
a zigzag pattern on same part of the body, oblique pairs of blotches or checkered throughout, but to a
lesser degree regular discrete blotches have brown color. Ventrum is white.
Habitats and ecology. This viper is endemic to the sand dunes of Wadi ‘Araba between
Ghawr as Safi
in
the
north and ‘Aqaba in the south.
It is nocturnal, and encountered hiding into rodent burrows or at the base of shrubs buried in soft sand
except for the protruding nostrils and eyes.