Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index This page refers to the type of snake. For an electronic adder, see Adder (electronics). An adder is a name for the common viper (Vipera cevus), ranging from Wales to Saghalien island, and from Caithness to the north of Spain as well Australia and most parts of Africa. The Puff Adder and Death Adder are highly venomous and bites can be fatal to humans. The single bite of an adult Death Adder can kill up to three humans. Common Name   Technical Name Geographic Range Death Adder Acanthopbis antarcticus Australia, New Guinea Dwarf Sand Adder Bitis peringueyi Namibia, Angola Horned Adder Bitis caudalis South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia Many-Horned Adder Bitis cornuta cornuta Namibia, South Africa Namaqua Dwarf Adder  Bitis schneideri SW South Africa Mountain Adder Bitis atropos atropos Zimbabwe, South Africa Puff Adder Bitis arietans arietans Africa, Yemen Rhombic Night Adder Causus rhombeatus Africa Etymology: The word was in Old Eng. noedre, later nadder or naddre; in the 14th century a nadder was, like a napron, wrongly divided into an adder. It appears with the generic meaning of serpent in the older forms of many Teutonic languages, cf. Old High Ger. natra; Goth. nadrs. It is thus used in the Old English version of the Christian Scriptures for the devil, the serpent of Genesis. Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.