Hajar Saw-scaled Viper \ Echis omanensis
(أفعى السجاد العمانية)
Its venom is a potent hemotoxin—a complex cocktail of metalloproteinases, serine proteases, and procoagulant factors. Envenomation causes intense local pain, swelling, and blistering; disrupts blood clotting (often leading to spontaneous hemorrhage and thrombocytopenia); and, if untreated, can produce systemic effects such as renal impairment. Bites are medically significant, and prompt administration of a species-appropriate (or broad-spectrum) antivenom is essential to prevent serious morbidity.
The Hajar Saw-scaled Viper (Echis omanensis), also known as the Oman saw-scaled viper or Oman carpet viper, is a small to medium-sized viper endemic to the rugged Hajar Mountains of the UAE and Oman. It favors rocky slopes, wadis, and gravelly plains from 300 to 2,000 m elevation, where its keeled scales and cryptic gray-brown pattern provide perfect camouflage. Primarily nocturnal, it lies in ambush for small mammals, lizards, and ground-nesting birds.
One species, many looks
Different colors between wadis and mountains tops
Vipers of the UAE
Other Species
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Arabian Sand Boa (Eryx jayakari)
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Diadem Snake (Spalerosophis diadema)
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Arabian Cat Snake (Telescopus dhara)
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Schokari Sand Racer (Psammophis schokari)