Saw-Scaled Viper

The Saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) is a small viper (2 feet long) found in northern Africa, the Middle East, central Asia, and India. This species spends most of it's time burried beneath the sand with only its eyes showing, wating for prey. When threatened, it rubs it's sides together, and specially oriented keeled scales produce a suprisingly loud rasping noise.

This snakes holds the distinction of having killed more people than any other. While the venom is disproportionately toxic for its size and the fangs can inject it deeply, the main factors leading to this infamous record are its commonality, its wide range, and its habit of laying mostly buried under the sand (which is compounded by it inhabiting areas in which people often go barefoot and lack modern medical facilities).