A retrospective of the contributions in the viper conservation and what are the challenges today
Barragán-Paladines, María Elena
Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés
Av. Amazonas N34-12 y Rumipamba (al interior del Parque La Carolina)
Quito 170506, Pichincha, Ecuador
Worldwide, there are approximately 367 species of viperid snakes, collectively known as vipers, which represent approximately 10% of over 4,000 species of extant snakes. Viperids (Viperidae) are a family of highly venomous snakes. Both vipers (Viperinae) and pitvipers (Crotalinae) occur in the Old World, and the New World is limited to pitvipers. Viperids do not inhabit in Oceania or the polar regions. It is believed that this group of snakes, after Oceania separated from Africa, evolved in Asia and Africa and subsequently migrated to the New World (present in North and South America). This diversity of snakes also has meant interrelationships of snakes with different religions and their strong influence on many cultures and how people envision these animals. A summary of the research on vipers that has been developed will show the areas of interest over time to the present day. The variety of themes represented in this event account for the different approaches and areas currently studied, such as phylogeny, ecology, toxicology, venomics, among others. This information allows us to understand the dynamics in the production of information, the understanding of this diversity (biology, ecology, classification problems), what has been achieved, what information gaps still exist, and focus on the real challenges we face as viperid snake researchers.