Atractaspis

Common names: burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers, more.

Atractaspis is a genus of venomous snakes found in Africa. Currently, 15 species are recognized.

Common names

Burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers, stiletto snakes, side-stabbing snakes.

Geographic range

Found mostly in subsaharan Africa, with a limited distribution in Israel and the Arabian Peninsula.

Species

Species	Taxon author	Subsp.*	Common name	Geographic range
A. aterrima	Günther, 1863	0	Slender burrowing asp	Africa from Senegal and the Gambia east to DR Congo and Uganda.
A. battersbyi	Witte, 1959	0	Battersby's burrowing asp	Africa: Bolobo, on the Congo River basin, DR Congo.
A. bibronii	A. Smith, 1849	0	Bibron's burrowing asp	Southern Africa, from central Namibia, east to northern South Africa, north to southeastern DR Congo, eastern Tanzania, coastal Kenya, and extreme southern coastal Somalia.
A. boulengeri	Mocquard, 1897	5	Central African burrowing asp	Africa: the forests of the western Congo River basin.
A. coalescens	Perret, 1960	0	Black burrowing asp	Africa: Bangwa in southwestern Cameroon.
A. congica	Peters, 1877	2	Congo burrowing asp	Africa: from the mouth of the Congo River south to Angola, southeastern DR Congo and northern Zambia.
A. corpulenta	(Hallowell, 1954)	2	Fat burrowing asp	Africa: from Liberia to Ghana and from Nigeria eastwards to northeastern DR Congo.
A. dahomeyensis	Bocage, 1887	0	Dahomey burrowing asp	Africa: from southwestern Cameroon, north and west through Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, northwestern Ivory Coast, southwestern Burkina Faso and south-central Mali.
A. duerdeni	Gough, 1907	0	Duerden's burrowing asp	Africa in two isolated populations: one in north-central Namibia and one in southeastern Botswana and northern South Africa.
A. engdahli	Lonnberg & Andersson, 1913	0	Engdahl's burrowing asp	Africa: southern Somalia and the lower Juba Valley northwest into northeastern Kenya.
A. irregularis	(Reinhardt, 1843)	4	Variable burrowing asp	Africa: from Liberia to Ghana, from Nigeria east to Uganda, southern Sudan, and western and central Kenya, and south to northeastern Tanzania, DR Congo and northwestern Angola.
A. leucomelas	Boulenger, 1895	0	Ogaden burrowing asp	Africa: eastern Ethiopia, northwestern Somalia and Djibouti.
A. microlepidota	Günther, 1866	1	Small-scaled burring asp	Africa: east from Senegal and Mauritania to Chad, southern and northeastern Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Also in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula.
A. reticulata	Sjöstedt, 1896	2	Reticulate burrowing asp	Central Africa: from southern Cameroon, east to eastern DR Congo and south to Angola.
A. scorteccii	Parker, 1949	0	Somali burrowing asp	Africa: eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia.