Systematics of Confused North African Macrovipers

Daboia mauritanica, Casablanca. Photo Credit: Gabri Mtnez
In North Africa, three species of large paleartic vipers have been recorded: Daboia mauritanica (Duméril & Bibron, 1848), D. deserti (Anderson, 1892) and Macrovipera lebetina transmediterranea Nilson & Andrén 1988. The latter has never been recorded accurately after its description, and it has never been included in any recent phylogenetic analysis. The taxonomic status of deserti is neither clear as a species, subspecies or just a morphological variation of D. mauritanica. Further research with genetic phylogenies with a wide sampling all over northwest Africa, is necessary to clarify the identity and taxonomic position of the taxa transmediterranea and deserti. Hopefully in the near future the population structure of this species complex will become better known.

Citation
Octavio Jiménez Robles & Gabriel Martínez del Mármol Marín: Comments on the large paleartic vipers Macrovipera and Daboia in North Africa. Published on March 05, 2012. Available from http://blog.moroccoherps.com/vipers-macrovipera-and-daboia-in-north-africa.
Accessed March 07, 2012.

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