Kenya Montane Viper
Montatheris hindii
Montatheris is a monotypic genus created for the viper species, Montatheris hindii, a venomous snake also known by the common names Kenya mountain viper, Kenya montane viper, montane viper, and Hind's viper. This is a small terrestrial species endemic to Kenya. There are no subspecies which are recognized as being valid.
From the article Montatheris on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
M. hindii is a small species reaching an average total length (including tail) of 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) and a maximum total length of about 35 cm (14 in). The head is elongated and not very distinct from the neck, while the eyes are small and set in a rather forwards position. The dorsal scales are strongly keeled.
Range & habitat
M. hindii is known only from isolated populations at high elevations on Mount Kenya and the moorlands of the Kinangop Plateau, Aberdare Mountains. The type locality listed is "Fort Hall, Kenya District, 4000 ft." Since Fort Hall is at an altitude of only 4,000 feet (1,219 meters), Loveridge (1957) questioned whether this was accurate.
Wikipedia: “Geographic range”
What it does
A terrestrial species, because of the low nighttime temperatures in its native habitat, M. hindii is only active during the day and when there is enough sunlight to warm its environment.
Wikipedia: “Behavior”
In human culture
The specific name, hindii, is in honor of Sidney Langford Hinde, a British military medical officer and naturalist.
Wikipedia: “Etymology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Montatheris hindii in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 31037.