OKAY, I RESOLVE TO POST MORE FREQUENTLY IN 2009

Here at Rigor Vitae, 2008 pretty much began with a post about viper tails that discussed the recently discovered Iranian viper Pseudocerastes urarachnoides, so what could be more appropriate than to post this great little video that has recently turned up?

As far as I know, this is the first footage of a live P. urarachnoides. How strongly it supports my assumption that the tail is used in caudal luring is hard to say, since it seems pretty clear that the snake here is being subdued. Nonetheless, it's interesting to see this fantastic tail in action. The specimen was collected by Behzad Fathinia in Iran's Ilam province, where the two type specimens originated, and the video comes from Steve Anderson's website, Swasiazoology. I have no idea where this individual snake is now.