Fourth Family: VIPERIDÆ
Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid bones movable, the first much abbreviated, erectile perpendicularly to the large transverse bone, and supporting a pair of large canaliculated poison fangs; mandible without coronoid bone. No vestiges of pelvic arch.
All more or less poisonous, some being among the most dangerous of snakes.
Divided into two subfamilies, each of which is represented by one genus in Europe:
Viperinæ.—No pit on the side of the snout; maxillary bone not hollowed out.
Crotalinæ.—A deep pit on each side of the snout, between the nostril and the eye; maxillary bone hollowed out above.
VIPERA URSINII
From Zoological Society’s Proceedings
