 The classification of this species has resulted in much taxonomic controversy.Before Franz Werner (1938), this snake was included in "Montivipera xanthina", and subsequently synonymized with "V. lebetina" by Boulenger (1896).Mertens (1952) moved it back to "M. xanthina" as a subspecies, and more recently a number of authorities, including Obst (1983) and Mallow et al.