Many-horned adder
The many-horned adder is a viper species. It is found in certain rocky desert areas, mostly along the Atlantic coast of southern Africa, in western South Africa and southwestern Namibia. It has characteristic tufts of "horns" above each eye. Like all other vipers, it is venomous. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Taxonomy
Common names include many-horned adder, hornsman, western hornsman adder, and western many-horned adder.The type locality given is "Cap de Bonne-espérance". Actually, according to Patterson's itinerary, the type was observed in coastal Namaqualand, on 1 September 1779.
Description
Small and stout, it grows to a typical total length of 30–50 cm. The maximum recorded total length is for a captive specimen.Two to five raised, horn-like scales occur above each eye.
Dorsally, it has a grey to reddish-brown ground colour, overlaid with four longitudinal series of large, dark-brown blotches, which are squarish or parallelogram-like in shape, and edged with white. Ventrally, it is whitish or tan, either uniform or speckled with dark brown. On the dorsal surface of the head, dark, symmetrical markings may form an arrowhead.
Distribution and habitat
The many-horned adder ranges from the coastal region of southwest Namibia through west and southwest Cape Province in South Africa, with a few isolated populations in eastern Cape Province.This species prefers rocky desert areas in dwarf succulent veld and mountain slopes in heathland vegetation.