Adder

This page refers to the type of snake. For an electronic adder, see Adder (electronics).

An adder is a name for the common viper (Vipera cevus), ranging from Wales to Saghalien island, and from Caithness to the north of Spain as well Australia and most parts of Africa. The Puff Adder and Death Adder are highly venomous and bites can be fatal to humans. The single bite of an adult Death Adder can kill up to three humans.

Common Name	Technical Name	Geographic Range
Death Adder	Acanthopbis 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.

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Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed