NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Asp Viper
Vipera aspis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Le Boréon, St-Martin-Vésubie, Alpes-Maritimes, FRANCE
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Vipera aspis is a viper species found in southwestern Europe.
Its common names include asp, asp viper, European asp, and aspic viper, among others. Like all other vipers, it is venomous. Bites from this species can be more severe than from the European adder, V. berus; not only can they be very painful, but approximately 4% of all untreated bites are fatal. The specific epithet, aspis, is a Greek word that means "viper." Five subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.
Wikipedia contributors, Vipera aspis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:46:54.539834+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Vipera aspis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Asp Viper
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Viperidae
- Genus
- Vipera
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyViperidae
- subfamilyViperinae
- genusVipera
- speciesVipera aspis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Vipera. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Nose-horned ViperVipera ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anatolian Meadow ViperVipera anatolica Eiselt & Baran, 1970 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Caucasus ViperVipera kaznakovi Nikolsky, 1909 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lataste’s ViperVipera latastei Bosca, 1878 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mountain ViperVipera monticola Saint Girons, 1953 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Darevsky's ViperVipera darevskii Vedmederja, Orlov & Tuniyev, 1986 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Vipera orlovi Tuniyev & Ostrovskikh, 2001 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Greek Meadow ViperVipera graeca Nilson & Andrén, 1988 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sako’s ViperVipera sakoi (Tuniyev, Avci, Ilgaz, Olgun, Petrova, Bodrov, Geniez & Teynié, 2018) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eastern sand viperVipera meridionalis Boulenger, 1903 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Vipera altaica Tuniyev, Nilson & Andrén, 2010 | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| AdderVipera berus (Linnaeus, 1758) | ViperidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Coluber aspis Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Vipera aspis montecristi Mertens, 1956 Mertens, 1956 | synonym |
| Vipera hugyi Schinz, 1833 Schinz, 1833 | synonym |
| Vipera francisci redi Laurenti, 1768 Laurenti, 1768 | synonym |
| Vipera atra Meisner, 1820 Meisner, 1820 | synonym |
| Coluber charasii Shaw, 1802 Shaw, 1802 | synonym |
| Vipera aspis francisredi Laurenti, 1768 Laurenti, 1768 | synonym |
| Vipera aspis hugyi (Schinz, 1833) (Schinz, 1833) | ambiguous synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Vipera&species=aspis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5BJ7S. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.