Vipera ammodytes

Bibliographic review The description year of Coluber ammodytes has been arbitrarily fixed as 1758 since the species was indexed in the 10 th Ed. of ‘Systema Naturae’ (Linnaeus 1758), the starting point of zoological nomenclature (ICZN 1999: Art. 3). The main description of the taxon was published ten years earlier in a pre-‘Systema Naturae’ work (Linnaeus & Sundius 1748). The description on page 216–217 of ‘Systema Naturae’ edition 10 (Linnaeus 1758) (Fig. 1) translates as follows: Species numbered 174. [Coluber] Ammodytes. 142 ventral scales— 32 subcaudal scales Amoen. acad. I. p. 506 n. 25. (reference to Linnaeus 1749a, P1) Venomous snake (Mars sign ♂, see Krecsák & Wahlgren 2008). Bellon. itin., 203. Druinus. (reference to Bellon 1605, P2) Aldr. Serp. 169. Ammodytes. (reference to Aldrovandi 1640, P3) Lives in the Orient. Nose terminated in a raised wart. In the 12 th edition of ‘Systema Naturae’ (Linné 1766) Linnaeus included the same text (Fig. 2). Amoen. acad. I p. 506 n. 25 is a reference to ‘Surinamensia Grilliana’ (Linnaeus 1749a), which was initially published in 1748 as a dissertation (Linnaeus & Sundius 1748), defended by Peter Sundius (1725–1786) on the 18 th of June 1748. Once a dissertation was published in the compilation ‘Amoenitates Academicae’, which often included alterations from the original text, Linnaeus started referring to this version and dropped the citation of the original dissertation (Krecsák & Bauer in prep.). In this instance, however, the Coluber ammodytes text from the dissertation by Linnaeus & Sundius (1748) was not altered before its publication in ‘Amoenitates Academicae’ (Linnaeus 1749a). ‘Amoenitates Academicae’ was printed in multiple editions, often with altered text, and selected dissertations were additionally translated in various languages. As such three Latin editions of ‘Surinamensia Grilliana’ can be identified: Ed. 1 printed in Leiden (Lugduni Batavorum) with the dissertation on pages 489–519 (Linnaeus 1749b), Ed. 2 Stockholm and Leipzig (Holmiae et Lipsie) with the dissertation on pp. 483–508 (Linnaeus 1749a) and the third Erlangen (Erlangae) edition which included the dissertation similarly on pp. 483–508 (Linnaeus 1787). The content of the three editions of ‘Surinamensia Grilliana’ is similar. Linnaeus always referred to the Stockholm and Leipzig edition (Linnaeus 1749a). ‘Surinamensia Grilliana’ included animals that mainly originated from Dutch Guyana (now Suriname) in South America. The animals were collected by the plantation owner Pater Gerret and his son from Surinam and given to Claes Grill (1705–1767) who later donated the collection to the Museum Upsaliense. Grill was a Swedish merchant, factory and ship owner, director of the Grill Trading House, one of the leading companies in the East India trade, who had a particular interest in natural sciences and financially supported Linnaeus. The collection included 24 animals of which 17, numbered 3–19, were Amphibia. In an appendix to the collection, one snake, COLUBER scutis abdominalibus CXLII, Squamis caudalibus XXXII No. 25, is named Ammodita and described: ‘Illustrandae historiae naturalis gratia, serpentum maxime, illius vero imprimis speciei, quae ab Ammodita nomen tulit, Colubrum subjugam ab Illustri & Nobilliss. Regiae Cancellariae Consiliario, D:no EDVARDO CARLESONIO, cum ad Portam Ottomanicam munus legati Extraordinaii obiret, captum.’ (“To illustrate the grace of natural history, particularly of snakes, and of the particular species, which took its name from Ammodita, a Coluber was subdued by EDVARDO CARLESONIUS the illustrious and most noble counsellor of the royal chancellery, collected, when he was performing the function of extraordinary ambassador at the Ottoman Gate”). Linnaeus provided two secondary references for the species: Ammodytes ‘Raj.quadrup. 287.’ (S1) and ‘Jonst. Serp. 14.t.I.f.3.’ (S2). He describes the colour pattern of the snake, its scales, mentions that it has two large fangs, and provides its distribution as southern parts of Europe, Italy, Illyria and that it is also found in Libya. He further refers to the horned Aspis (Aspidem cornutum) described by Matthioli (1565) (S3) as found in Italy. Linnaeus listed Libya as an area of occurrence for V. ammodytes, based on Aldrovandi (1640) and Jonstonus (1657). These authors derived this information from Solinus (1572), who equated Africa to Libya: ‘Porro quod in illo ambitu Aegyptium finitur pelagus et Libycum incipit, placuit ut Africam Libyam diceremus.’ (‘Hereafter, because the Egyptian Sea finishes in this circuit and the Libyan begins, it seems good to me to call Africa Libya.’). However, Solinus only mentioned ‘Ammoditae’ as present in Africa. This name is similar to Hammodytes used by Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (Anonymous 1592), which rather refers to the Saharan sand viper (Cerastes vipera), and it is likely that both authors, who were referring to Libyan snakes, intended the same species. The specimen collected by Carleson was depicted on the plate that accompanied the dissertation (Fig. 3). The illustrator was P.A. Petersson, and the engraver was Carl Bergquist (1711–1781) who was employed by the Swedish Academy. Linnaeus published an anonymous review in Swedish of the dissertation in ‘Lärda tidningar’ (Scholarly Newspapers) (Anonymous 1748). This was not a unique case, multiple instances are documented in which he wrote extensive and highly positive reviews, advertising his publications (Lindell 2012; Wahlgren 2012; Krecsák & Bauer in prep.). For a review of the specimens associated with the primary and secondary references, see Table 2. Although it can be established with certainty that the specimen stored in UPSZMC is the one depicted on plate I of ‘Surinamensia Grilliana’ (Linnaeus & Sundius 1748; Linnaeus 1749a), we have scrutinized and reviewed the manuscript and published catalogues of the collections in order to identify any further V. ammodytes specimens that might have been studied by Linnaeus. The type material The illustrated specimen can be traced throughout the manuscript catalogues of the collection (see Krecsák & Wahlgren 2008). UPSZMC housed a specimen (or several specimens) of Coluber ammodytes, as the species was recorded in Catalogue I, the oldest account of the collection from the 1780s. Catalogues II to VIII recorded one specimen of Coluber ammodytes from the AL (i.e., Alströmer/Linné) donation, and Catalogue IV contains a remark that the specimen was in good condition. Ossian Olofsson’s ‘Linne´samlingarna’ contains the same info as above. Thunberg (1787) listed the specimen in the ‘6. et 7. Donatio 1749 et sequentibus annis Jonae Alströmer nec non Caroli a Linné’ donation and states that it was donated by Edvardo Carleson, counselor of the king’s chancellery and refers to Linnaeus’s dissertation in ‘Amoenitates Academicae’, giving two scale counts 142:32, and a short comment in a footnote: “Dono datus ab Edvardo Carleson, Reg. Cancellariae Consiliario. LINN. Amoen.Acad. Tom. I p. 517.”. The reference was considered a misprint for page 506 by Lönnberg (1896), but it was actually only a difference in the editions used. Linnaeus used and referred to the Stockholm edition (Linnaeus 1749a) of ‘Amoenitates Academicae’ where the description begins on page 506, whereas Thunberg used the Leiden edition (Linnaeus,1749b) in which the Appendix starts on page 517. The scale counts given by Thunberg agree with the counts in different works by Linnaeus (1749a, 1758, 1766). Lönnberg (1896) mentioned that the individual is the same as depicted on plate XVII of ‘Surinamensia Grilliana’ (Linnaeus 1749a), with the mouth still opened. Wallin (2001) listed the specimen as donated to the museum by C. von Linné, with a note that it originated from E. Carleson. At present there are no specimens of Coluber ammodytes housed in The Swedish Museum of Natural History that are possible candidates for being material examined by Linnaeus. The collection housed a snake (NRM 784) from the De Geer collection, which was identified by Charles De Geer as Coluber ammodytes. Records show that the particular specimen could not have been present in De Geer’s collection until after 1758. It was reidentified as Xenodon severus by Lars Gabriel Andersson around 1898. The specimen could not be found in the NRM collection in 2024, but there is no indication that it was examined by Linnaeus, and it is not considered as ever being part of the type series. Primary references P2 and P3 and secondary references S1–S11 contain descriptions of V. ammodytes and/or other snake species, as shown is Table 2. There are no known extant specimens that may have been the source of the above descriptions. ......continued on the next page ......continued on the next page Description of the lectotype Specimen: UPSZTY 95, Nr. 95, Donation: C. Grill. (Fig. 4). Printed label by Dr. Åke Holm (1909–1989), former Director of the Zoological Museum, in the jar: Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. Linnésamlingen nr. 95 Coluber ammodytes. Information on the card file in the Linnaean collection: Coluber Ammodytes L.; Linnésaml. 95; Vipera ammodytes Latreille; Ldb 1897no. 25; Mus. Grill 25. Additionally, the part dealing with the taxon has been cut and glued from a reprint of Lönnberg’s 1896 paper. The individual is preserved in a new glass cylinder to which it was transferred during the 1950s by Holm (L. Wallin pers. comm.). The original jar with the rectangular paper label with ink inscription in Thunberg’s handwriting (Fig. 5) is stored on a separate shelf with other glassware. The specimen, a subadult male, shows signs of damage (Fig. 4). Its mouth was probably kept open with a solid object in order to show its fangs. Most probably it was killed with a stick, but the damage was not depicted on the plate. Artistic freedom and the primary aim of depicting the species, not the specimen, motivated the illustrator to draw an intact snake that shows no signs of damage. Examples of simila