Vipera aspis
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Vipera aspis is a viper species found in southwestern Europe. Its common names include asp, asp viper, European asp, and aspic viper, among others. Like all other vipers, it is venomous. Bites from this species can be more severe than from the European adder, V. berus; not only can they be very painful, but approximately 4% of all untreated bites are fatal. The specific epithet, aspis, is a Greek word that means "viper." Five subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.
The species grows to an average total length of 60–65 centimetres (24–26 in). Males reach a maximum total length of 85 cm (33 in), females rarely more than 75 cm (30 in). Males, however, are a little slimmer than females. The tail is very short: one-seventh to one-ninth of total body length in females, and one-sixth to one-eighth in males.
The head is broad, triangular and quite distinct from the neck. The tip of the snout is slightly but distinctly upturned. The rostral scale is generally higher than it is wide, touching 2 to 3 scales on the upper side of the snout. Dorsally, the snout is flat with distinct and slightly raised sharp margins. The nasal scale... Wikipedia →
Recording0:02
Italy · 2001
© mauro_fioretto · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Paris Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Indianapolis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Aquarama Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | bioparco | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 6 | zoo delle Maitine | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 7 | Città della Domenica | 🇮🇹 Italy |
No species of the same family or order lives in Aigüestortes National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report an Asp Viper sighting in Aigüestortes National Park on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 10 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Asp Viper in Aigüestortes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March and April, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Asp Viper sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Asp Viper sightings, Aigüestortes National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Mercantour National Park (France, about 30%) and Pyrénées National Park (France, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Asp Viper is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Aigüestortes National Park (27 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
