Adder
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- This page refers to the type of snake. For an electronic adder, see Adder (electronics).
Adder is another name for viper. Most snakes called adders belong to the family Viperidae, more precisely to subfamily viperinae (by contrast to pit vipers). An exception is the Australian Death adder, which despite its name is not a viperid at all, but rather a member of the cobra family, Elapidae.
| Common Name
<th align=left>Technical Name | Geographic Range | |
|---|---|---|
| European Adder or Crossed Viper | Vipera berus | Europe and Asia |
| Death Adder | Acanthophis antarcticus | Australia, New Guinea |
| Dwarf Sand Adder | Bitis peringueyi | Namibia, Angola |
| Horned Adder | Bitis caudalis | South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia |
| Many-Horned Adder | Bitis cornuta cornuta | Namibia, South Africa |
| Namaqua Dwarf Adder | Bitis schneideri | SW South Africa |
| Mountain Adder | Bitis atropos atropos | Zimbabwe, South Africa |
| Puff Adder | Bitis arietans arietans | Africa, Yemen |
| Rhombic Night Adder | Causus rhombeatus | Africa |
Etymology: The word was in Old Eng. noedre, later nadder or naddre; in the 14th century a nadder was, like a napron, wrongly divided into an adder. It appears with the generic meaning of serpent in the older forms of many Teutonic languages, cf. Old High Ger. natra; Goth. nadrs. It is thus used in the Old English version of the Christian Scriptures for the devil, the serpent of Genesis.