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Published July 8, 2026 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Macrovipera lebetinus

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Caucasus Leibniz Biodiversity Research Center, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • 2. Caucasus Leibniz Biodiversity Research Center, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia & Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • 3. Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia

Description

47.

Macrovipera lebetinus(Linnaeus, 1758)

Coluber lebetinus Linnaeus, 1758

Vipera lebetina: Nikolskii (1913: 184), et auct.

Vipera lebetina obtusa: Terentyev and Chernov (1940: 163); Muskhelishvili (1970: 200); Bannikov et al. (1977: 328), et auct.

Daboia lebetina: Engelmann et al. (1993)

Macrovipera lebetina: Tuniyev et al. (2019); Tuniyev and Ananjeva (2024)

Taxonomic sources followed.

Fretey (2019), Bánki et al. (2026), Speybroeck et al. (2020), Uetz et al. (2025).

Records in Georgia.

Nikolskii (1913), Muskhelishvili (1970), Bannikov et al. (1977), Iankoshvili and Tarkhnishvili (2021).

Infraspecific variation.

M. l. obtusa (Dwigubsky, 1832).

Taxonomic remark.

Biologically confirmed species. Oviparous. A venomous snake, and the most medically significant viper in Georgia. In recent decades, the range has expanded from extreme south-eastern Georgia to Alazani Valley and Tbilisi City in the north and northwest.

Barcoded individuals.

CaBOL -IDs 1027396 (Chachuna Managed Reserve), 1027397 (Tbilisi Botanical Garden) (BOLD: AGH 9530), similarity 99.39 %. The closest homologous sequences: M. lebetina (sic!) with a private status (Tajikistan; similarity 97.25 %); M. schweizeri (NCBI NC _ 044966.1; Milos, Cyclades Archipelago, Greece; similarity 96.50 %).

Notes

Published as part of Tarkhnishvili, David, Iankoshvili, Giorgi, Seropian, Armen, Kachlishvili, Nino & Todua, Mariami, 2026, An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia with DNA Barcoding Data and Taxonomic Remarks, pp. 59-138 in Caucasiana 5 on pages 59-138, DOI: 10.3897/caucasiana.5.e189214

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Linked records

Additional details

Identifiers

URL
http://treatment.plazi.org/id/716854A3DB205137B285A3C8F847D839

Cites
Publication: 10.31857/S0044513424120038 (DOI)
Publication: 10.48580/dgw64 (DOI)
Publication: 10.1163/15685381-bja10010 (DOI)
Publication: http://www.reptile-database.org (URL)
Publication: 10.1080/09397140.2021.1957208 (DOI)
Is part of
Journal article: 10.3897/caucasiana.5.e189214 (DOI)
Journal article: http://publication.plazi.org/id/90335C4103565786A015CC4242A532E9 (URL)
Journal article: http://zoobank.org/6111B0E9-6FDD-4FA7-BE9E-8ACEC972C8D6 (URL)
Is source of
https://biodiversitypmc.sibils.org/collections/plazi/716854A3DB205137B285A3C8F847D839 (URL)
https://www.gbif.org/species/329030946 (URL)
https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/315742/taxon/716854A3DB205137B285A3C8F847D839.taxon (URL)

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Linnaeus
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Family
Viperidae
Genus
Macrovipera
Species
lebetinus
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Macrovipera lebetinus (Linnaeus, 1758) sec. Tarkhnishvili, Iankoshvili, Seropian, Kachlishvili & Todua, 2026

References

  • Nikolskii AM (1913) Reptiles and amphibians of the Caucasus. Herpetologia Caucasica. Caucasus Museum Publication, Tiflis, 272 pp. [in Russian]
  • Terentyev PV, Chernov SA (1940) Identification of reptiles and amphibians of the USSR. Leningrad, Uchpedgiz, 184 pp. [in Russian]
  • Muskhelishvili TA (1970) Presmykajushchiesja Vostochnoj Gruzii (The reptiles of the eastern Georgia). Tbilisi, Metsniereba, 241 pp. [in Russian]
  • Bannikov AG, Darevsky IS, Ishchenko VG, Rustamov AK, Szczerbak NN (1977) Opredelitel zemnovodnyh i presmykayushchihsya fauny SSSR. Prosveshenie, Moscow, 415 pp. [in Russian]
  • Engelmann WE, Fritzsche J, Günther RR, Obst F-J (1993) Lurche und Kriechtiere Europas. Neumann Verlag, 420 pp.
  • Tuniyev BS, Ananjeva NB (2024) High herpetological diversity in the Caucasian Ecoregion: an annotated list of species including comments on biogeography and conservation. Zoologicheskij Zhurnal 103 (12): 37–76. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0044513424120038
  • Fretey J-F (2019) Le nom spécifique lebetinus de la vipère du Levant. Bulletin de la Société Herpétologique de France 2019 (1): 1–4.
  • Bánki O, Bánki Y, Döring M, Ower G, Hernández Robles DR, Plata Corredor CA, Stjernegaard Jeppesen T, Örn A, Pape T, Hobern D, Garnett S, Little H, DeWalt RE, Miller J, Orrell T, Aalbu R, Abbott J, Abreu C, Acero PA, et al. (2026) Catalogue of Life (2026-01 - 16 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgw64
  • Speybroeck J, Beukema W, Dufresnes C, Fritz U, Jablonski D, Lymberakis P, Martínez-Solano Í, Razzetti E, Vamberger M, Vences M, Vörös J, Crochet P-A (2020) Species list of the European herpetofauna – 2020 update by the Taxonomic Committee of the Societas Europaea Herpetologica. Amphibia - Reptilia 41: 139–189. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685381-bja10010
  • Uetz P, Freed P, Aguilar R, Reyes F, Hošek J (eds.) (2025) The Reptile Database, http://www.reptile-database.org. Accessed 31 Jan 2025
  • Iankoshvili G, Tarkhnishvili D (2021) Distribution of snakes (Reptilia: Serpentes) in Georgia: Social media networks help to improve scientific knowledge. Zoology in the Middle East 67 (3): 228–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2021.1957208