Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
East African Gaboon Viper
A large, elaborately patterned viper found in East and Central African rainforests, closely related to the West African Gaboon Viper.
Eastern Copperhead
A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern and central United States, known for its hourglass-shaped bands.
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
The largest rattlesnake in North America, a heavy-bodied species of southeastern pine forests and coastal habitats.
Eastern Green Mamba Bush Viper
An arboreal African viper with rough, keeled scales and variable green coloration, often mottled with yellow or blue tones.
Eastern Massasauga
A small, secretive rattlesnake of wetland prairies, now rare and protected across much of its range.
Eastern Russell's Viper
A medium to large, heavy-bodied viper found across Southeast Asia, closely related to the Indian Russell's Viper.
Egyptian Saw-Scaled Viper
A small viper known for producing a rasping sound by rubbing its serrated scales together.
Elegant Pit Viper
A slender, boldly patterned island pit viper from the Ryukyu archipelago of Japan.
European Adder
The only snake native to much of the British Isles, with an enormous range spanning from western Europe to the Russian Far East, including areas within the Arctic Circle.
Eyelash Viper
A small, arboreal pit viper famous for the raised scales above its eyes and its wide range of color morphs.
False Horned Viper
A desert viper of the Middle East that mimics true horned vipers with supraocular scale projections, but belongs to a distinct genus.
Fan Si Pan Horned Pit Viper
A stout mountain pit viper with small hornlike scales above the eyes, found in high-elevation forests of the Fan Si Pan region.
Fea's Viper
A strikingly patterned, primitive viper of montane forests, considered one of the most ancient living viper lineages.
Fer-de-lance
A large, fast-moving pit viper found across much of Central America.
Field's Horned Viper
A small desert viper of the Middle East recognized by hornlike scales above the eyes, adapted for a burrowing, sand-dwelling lifestyle.
Florida Cottonmouth
A large, semi-aquatic pit viper of Florida wetlands, often confused with water snakes.
Gaboon Adder
One of the largest and heaviest vipers in the world, renowned for its intricate geometric camouflage.
Gaboon Viper
One of the largest vipers in the world, with a broad triangular head and remarkably calm movements.
Godman's Montane Pit Viper
A small, high-elevation pit viper of Central American cloud forests, adapted to cool montane climates.
Godman's Mountain Pit Viper
A stout, short-tailed pit viper of Asian highland forests with variable earthy brown patterning.
Golden Lancehead
A critically endangered island-endemic pit viper found only on a single Brazilian island, adapted to hunting birds.
Grand Canyon Rattlesnake
A pink to salmon-colored rattlesnake found almost exclusively within the Grand Canyon, closely matching the region's distinctive red rock.
Great Basin Rattlesnake
A pale, desert-adapted rattlesnake of the arid Great Basin, blending well with sandy and rocky terrain.
Great Lakes Bush Viper
A medium-sized arboreal viper found in montane forests near the African Great Lakes, with variable green, blue, or yellow coloration.
Green Bush Viper
A small, arboreal African viper with rough spiny scales and a body color that varies from green to yellow or blue-green.
Guangxi Pit Viper
A stout forest pit viper found in the karst and montane forests of southern China and northern Vietnam.
Guatemalan Palm Pit Viper
An arboreal green pit viper of Central American highland forests, closely related to other palm pit vipers of the region.
Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper
A green pit viper of mainland Southeast Asia named after herpetologist Andreas Gumprecht.
Habu
A large pit viper endemic to Japan's Ryukyu Islands.
Halys Pit Viper
A widespread Central Asian pit viper found across steppe, desert, and semi-arid habitats.
Himalayan Pit Viper
A cold-adapted pit viper found at high elevations across the Himalayas, among the highest-altitude snakes in Asia.
Horned Adder
A small desert adder with a prominent single horn-like scale above each eye, well camouflaged against sandy soils.
Horseshoe Pit Viper
A pit viper of the Western Ghats named for horseshoe-shaped markings on its head.
Hump-Nosed Pit Viper
A small pit viper of southern India and Sri Lanka, notable for its upturned, hump-like snout.
Hundred-Pace Viper
A distinctively patterned pit viper of southern China and Taiwan, popularly named for folklore about a hundred paces.
Island Lancehead
A rare, small island-endemic pit viper found only on Alcatrazes Island off the coast of Brazil, closely related to the Golden Lancehead.
Japanese Mamushi
A small pit viper widespread across Japan.
Jararaca
A widespread South American pit viper important pharmacologically, as compounds isolated from it led to the development of ACE inhibitor drugs.
Jararacussu
One of the largest South American lanceheads, a heavy-bodied forest pit viper.
Jerdon's Pit Viper
A high-altitude pit viper of the eastern Himalayas and adjacent hill country, marked with bold black and yellow banding.
Jumping Pit Viper
A stout, heavy-bodied terrestrial pit viper known for its rapid, forceful strikes that can propel part of its body off the ground.
Kanburian Pit Viper
A rare, range-restricted green pit viper known primarily from the Kanchanaburi region of western Thailand.
Kaznakov's Viper
A small, colorful viper of the western Caucasus, often displaying vivid copper or reddish coloration and a zigzag dorsal pattern.
Kenyan Horned Bush Viper
A little-known arboreal bush viper of Cameroon, distinguished by its enlarged subocular scales and rough, keeled body scalation.
Kinabalu Pit Viper
A montane green pit viper restricted to the high elevations of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo.
Large-Eyed Pit Viper
A green pit viper distinguished by unusually large eyes, found across forested regions of mainland Southeast Asia.
Lataste's Viper
A small viper of the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Africa, recognized by a small upturned snout scale.
Levant Viper
A large, robust viper subspecies found across the Levant and Caucasus, closely related to the widespread Blunt-Nosed Viper.