{{Short description|Subspecies of snake}} {{Subspeciesbox | image = Vipera aspis aspis.jpg | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | genus = Vipera | species = aspis | subspecies = atra | authority = Meisner, 1820 | synonyms = * ''Vipera atra'' <small>Meisner, 1820</small> * ''Vipera aspis atra'' <small>— Meisner, 1820</small> * ''Vipera aspis'' var. ''nigra'' <br><small>Bonaparte, 1834</small> * ''Vipera aspis'' var. ''rubriventris'' <br><small>Bonaparte, 1834</small> * ''Vipera aspis'' var. ''nigra'' <br><small>— Massalongo, 1854</small> * ''Vipera aspis'' var. ''immaculata'' <br><small>— Calderini, 1878</small> * ''Vipera aspis'' var. ''Calderinii'' <br><small>De Betta, 1879</small> * [''Vipera aspis''] var. ''infernalis'' <br><small>F. Müller, 1880</small> * ''Mesovipera morathi lepontica'' <br><small>A.F. Reuss, 1938</small> * ''Vipera'' (''Rhinaspis'') ''aspis atra'' <br><small>— Obst, 1983</small> * ''Vipera aspis typus'' <small>Golay et al., 1993</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name="McD99">McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> }}
:'''''Common names''': black asp, black viper.<ref name="Meh87">Mehrtens JM. 1987. ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. {{ISBN|0-8069-6460-X}}.</ref>''
'''''Vipera aspis atra''''' is a venomous viper subspecies<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=635251 |taxon=''Vipera aspis atra'' |access-date=15 August 2006}}</ref> endemic to France, Switzerland and Italy.<ref name="NRDB">{{NRDB species|genus=Vipera|species=aspis}}</ref>
==Geographic range== It is found in western Switzerland, northwestern Italy, Spain, and southeastern France.<ref name="NRDB"/> Mallow et al. (2003) describe the range only as "portions of Switzerland".<ref name="Mal03">Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. {{ISBN|0-89464-877-2}}.</ref>
==Conservation status== This subspecies is classified as Vulnerable (VU) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).<ref name="ICUN-VA">[http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/61591/summ ''Vipera aspis''] at [http://www.iucnredlist.org/ IUCN Red List]. Accessed 6 October 2006.</ref><ref name="ICUN-31">[http://www.iucnredlist.org/info/categories_criteria2001#categories 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1)][http://www.iucnredlist.org/ IUCN Red List]. Accessed 6 October 2006.</ref>
==Taxonomy== A recent study by Ursenbacher et al. (2006) suggests that ''V. a. atra'' may not be a valid subspecies.<ref name="ICUN-VA"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *Meisner F. 1820. ''"12. Ueber die in der Schweiz einheimischen Schlangen überhaupt und die Vipern insbesonere."'' pp. 89–95. In: ''Museum der Naturgeschichte Helvetiens. Band I.'' Bern: Burgdorfer. 98 pp. (''Vipera atra'', pp. 93–94.) * Ursenbacher S, Conelli A, Golay P, Monney JC, Zuffi MAL, Thiery G, Durand T, Fumagalli L. 2006. Phylogeography of the asp viper (''Vipera aspis'') inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence data: Evidence for multiple Mediterranean refugial areas. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' '''38''' (2): 546-552. {{refend}}
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aspis atra Category:Reptiles described in 1820