A review of the tribe Atherini (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the descriptions of two new genera

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Abstract
BROADLEY, D.G. 1996. A review of the tribe Atherini (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the descriptions of two new genera. Afr. J. Herpetol. 45(2): 40–48. The genus Atheris Cope has traditionally included a closely related group of forest-dwelling arboreal snakes with prehensile tails, but in 1965 two terrestrial species (both described in the genus Vipera, but subsequently transferred to Bitis) were assigned to Atheris on anatomical grounds. On morphological, molecular and ecological grounds, two new monotypic genera are erected to accommodate the distinctive species Proatheris superciliaris (peters) of Lowland flood plains and Montatheris hindii (Boulenger) inhabiting moorland above 3000 m in the Kenya highlands. The tribe Atherini, first suggested by Groombridge (1987), is formally proposed to include the two new genera, together with Atheris and Adenorhinos Marx & Rabb.