biology

Lebanon viper

Lebanon viper is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lebanon viper rather than just read about it. In short: The Lebanon viper (Montivipera bornmuelleri), also known as Bornmueller's viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to Western Asia.

Key takeaways

Lebanon viper belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lebanon viper to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lebanon viper from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Lebanon viper (Montivipera bornmuelleri), also known as Bornmueller's viper, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The species is native to Western Asia. There are no recognized subspecies.

Etymology The specific name, bornmuelleri, is in honor of German botanist Joseph Friedrich Nicolaus Bornmüller.

Description M. bornmuelleri grows to a maximum total length (including tail) of about 75 cm (30 in), but usually much less. Males tend to be larger than females in some populations. In specimens from Mount Lebanon, the maximum total lengths were 47.3 cm (18.6 in) for females and 53.8 cm (21.2 in) for males. The tail accounts for about 7–10% of the total length.

Geographic range and habitat M. bornmuelleri is found in high mountain areas in northern Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Its preferred natural habitats are cedar forest, shrubland, and alpine grassland.

Reproduction M. bornmuelleri is viviparous.

Taxonomy The original syntypes of M. bornmuelleri were collected in Lebanon at 1800 m (5,900 ft) and in the Bolkar mountains of western Turkey at 2200 m (7,200 ft) as described by Franz Werner in 1898. In 1922, Werner restricted the type locality to Lebanon in his designation of his specimen as a lectotype, and in 1938 separated out the southern varieties as a separate species (Daboia palaestinae). In 1967 Mertens raised the name bornmuelleri to valid species rank for the Lebanese populations, thus leaving the name xanthina for all Turkish populations, which arrangement was accepted by Baran in 1976, and agreed with by Nilson and Andrén in their 1985 paper.

Conservation status The species M. bornmuelleri is as of 2006 classified as Endangered (EN) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species with the following criteria: B1ab(iii) (v3.1, 2001). This indicates that it is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild because the extent of its occurrence within its geographic range is estimated to be less than 5,000 km2 (1,931 sq mi), because its populations are severely fragmented or known to exist at no more than 5 locations, and because a continued decline is observed, inferred or projected in the area, extent and/or quality of its habitat.

References

Further reading Garrigues T, Dauga C, Ferquel E, Choumet V, Failloux A-B (2005). "Molecular phylogeny of Vipera Laurenti, 1768 and the related genera Microvipera (Reuss, 1927) and Daboia (Gray, 1842), with comments about neurotoxic Vipera aspis aspis populations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35 (1): 35–47. Golay P, Smith HM, Broadley DG, Dixon JR, McCarthy CJ, Rage J-C, Schätti B, Toriba M (1993). Endoglyphs and other Major Venomous Snakes of the World. A Checklist. Geneva: Azemiops. 478 pp. Obst FJ (1983). "Zur Kenntnis der Schlangengattung Vipera". Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden 38: 229–235. (in German).

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lebanon viper

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lebanon viper claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lebanon viper before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lebanon viper ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lebanon viper

In research: Lebanon viper appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lebanon viper in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lebanon viper is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics IUCN Red List endangered species, Montivipera, Reptiles described in 1898, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lebanon viper outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lebanon viper in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lebanon viper means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lebanon viper out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lebanon viper in simple terms?

Why does Lebanon viper matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lebanon viper?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lebanon viper.