Puff adder
Bitis arietans (Merrem, 1820)
The puff adder (Bitis arietans) is a snake in the family Viperidae, subfamily Viperinae, within the order Squamata of the class Reptilia. It falls in the medium size class, with a representative adult body mass of 2.381 kg.
Quick facts about the puff adder
Its lifespan is given as 15.8 years, and its litter or clutch size is recorded as 156. The IUCN Red List assesses the puff adder globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 2.38 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 15.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 156src for Young per litter or clutch
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the puff adder
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the puff adder live?
Not recorded
What is the puff adder?
The puff adder (Bitis arietans) is a highly venomous viper species found in savannahs and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africa except for the Sahara and rainforest regions. It is responsible for causing the most snakebite fatalities in Africa owing to various factors, such as its wide distribution, frequent occurrence in highly populated regions, and aggressive disposition. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.
The species is commonly known as the puff adder, African puff adder, or common puff adder.
From the Wikipedia article “Puff adder” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Puff_adder&oldid=1372517006), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the puff adder endangered?
The puff adder is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the puff adder classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyViperidae
- genusBitis
- SpeciesBitis arietans (Merrem, 1820)
Synonyms Bitis lachesis somalica, Cobra arietans, Cobra clotho, Cobra lachesis, Echidna arietans, Vipera arietans
Other names and names in other languages (51)
- Lafâa Mo-narebArabic
- zmije útočnáCzech
- Almindelig PuffadderDanish
- kiliTaita
- PuffotterGerman
- Gemeine PuffotterGerman
- AnyakDinka
- KuryethDinka
- MonarubSpanish
- Víbora BufadoraSpanish
- PuffadderiFinnish
- Vipère hébraϊqueFrench
- Vipère heurtanteFrench
- Qhiterekahts
- puffogó viperaHungarian
- Vipera soffianteItalian
- パフアダーJapanese
- bvumbikck
- mbvumbikck
- mvumbikck
- paku pakukck
- paku-pakukck
- thumbikck
- eutaKuanyama
- HvesehoggormNorwegian Bokmål
- bururundc
- PofadderDutch
- Gewone PofadderDutch
- lerabaNorthern Sotho
- chipiriNyanja
- żmija sykliwaPolish
- butaPortuguese
- biútaPortuguese
- riútaPortuguese
- surucucuPortuguese
- víbora-aríetePortuguese
- Víbora-comumPortuguese
- víbora-de-aríetePortuguese
- Шумящая гадюкаRussian
- tshipiririSena
- bafeSwahili
- kifutuSwahili
- momaSwahili
- Şişen engerekTurkish
- leBoloboloTswana
- mhiriTsonga
- Гадюка шумлячаUkrainian
- vuluvuluVenda
- lipiliYao
- 鼓腹巨蝰Chinese
- isibululuZulu
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the puff adder
Other species in the same genus Bitis.
Gaboon viper
Bitis gabonica
Rhinoceros viper
Bitis nasicornis
Dwarf puff adder
Bitis peringueyi
Namaqua puff adder
Bitis schneideri
Horned adder
Bitis caudalis
Berg adder
Bitis atropos
ComparePuff adder vs Gaboon viperPuff adder vs Rhinoceros viperPuff adder vs Dwarf puff adderPuff adder vs Namaqua puff adder
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the puff adder?
The puff adder is a snake, a reptile in the family Viperidae and subfamily Viperinae.
How heavy is a puff adder?
An adult Puff adder has a representative body mass of 2.381 kg, placing it in the medium size class (1 to 25 kg).
How long does a puff adder live?
The puff adder's lifespan is given as 15.8 years.
How many young does a puff adder have?
The puff adder's litter or clutch size is recorded as 156.
Is the puff adder endangered?
No. The puff adder is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
What is the scientific name of the puff adder, and who named it?
The scientific name is Bitis arietans, with the authority (Merrem, 1820).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Puff adder (Bitis arietans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/puff-adder
“Puff adder (Bitis arietans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/puff-adder.
@misc{puff_adder_2026,
title = {Puff adder (Bitis arietans)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/puff-adder},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}