Oraie, H., E. Rastegar-Pouyani, A. Khosravani, N. Moradi, A. Akbari, M. E. Sehhatisabet, S. Shafiei, N. Stümpel & U. Joger

Molecular and morphological analyses have revealed a new species of blunt-nosed viper of the genus Macrovipera in Iran. pp. 233-248.

Abstract. A new species of blunt-nosed viper of the genus Macrovipera is described from the central and southern parts of Iran on the basis of morphological and molecular examination. The mitochondrial Cytb gene was used to investigate phylogenetic relationships amongst the Iranian species of the genus Macrovipera. A dataset with a final sequence length of 1043 nucleotides from 41 specimens from 18 geographically distant localities across Iran was generated. The findings demonstrated that two major clades with strong support can be identified within the genus Macrovipera in Iran. One clade consists of individuals belonging to a new species, which is distributed in the central and southern parts of Iran; the second clade includes two discernible subclades. The first subclade is distributed in western and northwestern Iran, Macrovipera lebetina obtusa, and the second subclade consists of northeastern populations, representing Macrovipera lebetina cernovi. The new species, Macrovipera razii sp. n., differs from its congeners by having higher numbers of ventral scales, elongated anterior chin-shields, and
lower numbers of canthal plus intersupraocular scales.

Key words. Squamata, Serpentes, Viperidae, Macrovipera, new species, mitochondrial Cytb, phylogeny, taxonomy, Iran.