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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Mole Viper

Atractaspis engdahli Lönnberg & Andersson, 1913

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.

Engdahl's Burrowing Asp (Atractaspis engdahli). Species of reptile.

Engdahl's Burrowing Asp (Atractaspis engdahli). Species of reptile.

United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine · Public domain · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

Atractaspis engdahli, also known commonly as Engdahl's burrowing asp, Engdahl's burrowing viper, and the mole viper, is a species of venomous snake in the family Atractaspididae. The species is endemic to Africa.

Wikipedia contributors, Atractaspis engdahli; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:06:46.417340+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Atractaspis engdahli Lönnberg & Andersson, 1913
Name authority
Lönnberg & Andersson, 1913
Common name
Mole Viper
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Atractaspididae
Genus
Atractaspis
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
  9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
  10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
  11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
  12. familyAtractaspididae
  13. subfamilyAtractaspidinae
  14. genusAtractaspis
  15. speciesAtractaspis engdahli Lönnberg & Andersson, 1913

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Atractaspis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Phillips’ Burrowing AspAtractaspis phillipsi Barbour, 1913AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Branch’s Stiletto SnakeAtractaspis branchi Rödel, Kucharzewski, Mahlow, Chirio, Pauwels, Carlino, Sambolah & Glos, 2019AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Arabian Small-Scaled Burrowing AspAtractaspis andersonii Boulenger, 1905AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Bibron’s Stiletto SnakeAtractaspis bibronii Smith, 1849AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Congo Stiletto SnakeAtractaspis congica Peters, 1877AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Mole ViperAtractaspis corpulenta (Hallowell, 1854)AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Israeli Mole ViperAtractaspis engaddensis Haas, 1950AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Mole ViperAtractaspis leucomelas Boulenger, 1895AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Magretti’s Burrowing AspAtractaspis magrettii Scortecci, 1929AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
(Western) Small-Scaled Burrowing AspAtractaspis microlepidota Günther, 1866AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Sahelian Burrowing AspAtractaspis micropholis Günther, 1872AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Mole ViperAtractaspis reticulata Sjöstedt, 1896AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 44 records assigned to Atractaspididae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Somalia, NE Kenya

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.

  1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Atractaspis&species=engdahli 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:JJ47. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.