Vipera aspis atra


 * Common names: black asp, black viper. 

Vipera aspis atra is a venomous viper subspecies endemic to France, Switzerland and Italy.

Geographic range
It is found in western Switzerland, northwestern Italy, Spain, and southeastern France. Mallow et al. (2003) describe the range only as "portions of Switzerland".

Conservation status
This subspecies is classified as Vulnerable (VU) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).

Taxonomy
A recent study by Ursenbacher et al. (2006) suggests that V. a. atra may not be a valid subspecies.