NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Desert Horned Viper
Cerastes cerastes (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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Cerastes cerastes, commonly known as the Saharan horned viper or the desert horned viper, is a species of viper native to the deserts of Northern Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula and Levant. It is often easily recognized by the presence of a pair of supraocular "horns", although hornless individuals do occur. Three subspecies have been described.
Wikipedia contributors, Cerastes cerastes; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:18:48.107781+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cerastes cerastes (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Desert Horned Viper
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Viperidae
- Genus
- Cerastes
- 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
- genusCerastes
- speciesCerastes cerastes (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Coluber cerastes Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Cerastes cornutus Forskal, 1775 Forskal, 1775 | ambiguous synonym |
| Cerastes cerastes mutila Domergue, 1901 Domergue, 1901 | synonym |
| Cerastes cerastes karlhartli Sochurek, 1974 Sochurek, 1974 | synonym |
| Cerastes cornutus Boulenger, 1896 Boulenger, 1896 | ambiguous synonym |
| Cerastes cerastes hoofieni Werner & Sivan ex Werner et al., 1999 Werner & Sivan ex Werner et al., 1999 | ambiguous synonym |
| Cerastes cerastes hoofieni Werner & Sivan, 1999 Werner & Sivan, 1999 | 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=Cerastes&species=cerastes 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:SJXC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.