Evolution 

No subspecies are currently recognized

They have been around for 130 million years 

Closest living relative: Russels Viper, The Gaboon Viper

Ancestry: Rattle snakes, Copper heads, Cotton Mouths

Description/Characteristics

Skin Color-Brown Blue Green

Skin Type-Scales

Slender Bodies

Venomous

Vertical Pupils

Lifespan:10 to 12 years

weight: 2 pounds

Length: 23-29 inches

Males are thinner than females.

Males grow about 29 inches while females grow about 23 inches.

Distribution

Continent: Africa

Invasive: No, These snakes are native to Central and East Africa and still live there.

Diet

They eat mammals, frogs, lizards and sometimes birds.

They are prone to overeating meaning they will eat the prey as soon as they see at and have enough space in their belly.

They sink their fangs into predators while dangling from a tree.

none

Reproduction

Spiny Bush Vipers mate once every year

During a single season, females will mate with several males.

Mating time is end of summer and October which are rainy times for spiny bush viper's habitat.

Spiny bush vipers will mate for several hours meaning if one moves other is pulled along with it.

Females usually produce 5-18 young's

Gestation period for females is 5-7 months.

Unlike other reptiles these snakes give live birth

Development

At birth, Bush Vipers neonates tend to be somewhere between 6 to 8 inches long and will take a few months to reach their juvenile stage.

They become sexually mature between ages 2 and 3.

Newborns are about 15 cm in total length and are dark green in color. They are also independent at birth.

As mentioned above male spiny bush vipers reach the length of 29 in while females reach the length of 23 inches.

Cause of death

Monitor lizards are known to hunt and eat spiny bush vipers using their sharp claws and teeth.

It is said that male vipers are known to fight to breed with female vipers since the male viper's population is larger than female population.

There are no known diseases amongst spiny bush vipers.

There are no other known causes of their death that I could find.

Competition 

Inter-species: Since they are solitary snakes, they don't come to meet often, and when they do, it's usually for breeding where they compete to breed with other male vipers. I would think that if it's not a breeding season and two viper males meet each other, they would probably get into a fight since they prefer to be alone.

Intra-species: Monitor lizards eat birds, lizards, snakes and many more. Monitor lizards also hunt for spiny bush vipers as well as competing with them for food.

Inter-species compete for reproduction while intra-species compete for food.

There are no known invasive species effects on spiny bush vipers as of now.

IUCN rating

IUCN haven't rated the Spiny bush viper.

There is no exact information on the population of the spiny bush viper.

Since people can't effectively measure the population of spiny bush viper, they can't make an accurate trend of the population.

Impact on humans

There are no known impacts that spiny bush vipers caused on humans. Spiny bush vipers like to live far away from human structure. Also, it is said that the venom of spiny bush viper is dangerous to humans since it is strong enough to harm human's internal organs and there is no cure for it as of now.

Potential impacts can possibly be the increase of population where they may go over the carrying capacity and start to get in contact with human infrastructure.

Spiny bush vipers were discovered in 2006 by Dr. Julian Bayliss (close to 17 years). 

There are no efforts in effect to minimize the impact they have on humans because they haven't impacted human lives.