Ethiopian puff adder
| Ethiopian puff adder | ||||||||||||
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Ethiopian puff adder ( Bitis parviocula ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Bitis parviocula | ||||||||||||
| Böhme , 1977 |
The Ethiopian puff adder ( Bitis parviocula ) is a species of snake from the family of vipers . The species was scientifically described in 1977 by Wolfgang Böhme . There are only three scientifically documented finds of the species. Little is known about the way of life of this snake.
features
The longest known specimen of the Ethiopian puff adder was the type specimen with a length of 75.2 centimeters, a maximum length of about one meter is assumed. The physique is, as is typical for puff adders, relatively massive and cylindrical, the tail is short. In the middle of the body the snake has 37 to 39 rows of scales around the body, the scales being clearly keeled. The basic color of the body is light to dark brown, on the flanks green-brown. A series of black, hexagonal dots ( diamonds ) runs across the back, some of which are surrounded by light-colored scales. There are butterfly-shaped yellow drawings between the black diamonds. The sides of the body are drawn in the upper area with a series of black triangles with a white center and in the lower area with green-gray and mostly yellow-bordered triangles. The ventral side is green-gray and may have dark speckles. It consists of about 144 abdominal shields ( ventralia ), which are followed by an undivided anal shield and 21 paired subcaudalia .
The relatively small head set off from the body is long and flattened and has a triangular basic shape. It is colored brown with a dark, triangular drawing with the widest point between the eyes, followed by a light brown, club-shaped drawing element, separated by a light line. The sides of the head each have a dark brown triangle below the eyes (subocular) and one from the eyes to the rear end of the mouth gap (temporal triangle), which are separated by a thin light strip that runs from the rear edge of the eye to the white upper lip. The chin and throat are white with a black fleck. The eyes are rather small and directed sideways, they are surrounded by an eye ring made of 14 individual scales. The iris is dark brown, the pupil is elliptical and vertical. There are 3 rows of scales between the eye ring and the shields of the upper lip (supralabials). The upper edge of the mouth gap is lined by 13 to 14 supralabials, the lower edge by 15 sublabials .
Unlike other Bitis species, the nostrils are small and slit-shaped and about as long as the diameter of the eye. The entire head is covered with small and keeled scales that form 12 rows between the eyes (intraorbital).
The Ethiopian puff adder differs from the Gaboon viper ( Bitis gabonica ), which is not native to Ethiopia, in that it does not have a snout or nose cone. It can be distinguished from the puff adder ( B. arietans ) by its coloration, which is close to that of the rhinoceros viper ( B. nasicornis ). The small eyes, the slit-shaped nostrils and the relatively short poisonous teeth are characteristic features of their own as a separate species.
Occurrence and habitat
The snake is only known from three sites in southern Ethiopia at altitudes between 2000 and 3000 meters, but it is assumed that it is more common in the mountains. It was described on the basis of a specimen that was collected in 1975 on the Doki River near the village of Yambo in the former Illubabor Province, now Oromiyaa , in Ethiopia as a run over animal.
Two of the three known specimens were caught in wooded areas and one in grasslands near a stony stream. The type specimen lived in an old coffee plantation . In his description of the snake species published in 1977, the author Böhme believes that an underground way of life is possible and, based on the description of the locals that was transmitted to him by the collector, assumes a species that is endemic to the forest areas of the highland mountains of Ethiopia.
Way of life
The way of life of the Ethiopian puff adder is completely unknown. It can be assumed that like other puff adders it is nocturnal and lives exclusively on the ground. In the first description, due to the head shape and proportions as well as the relatively short fangs and the lack of snout squirrels, a frequent stay in underground rodent burrows up to an almost exclusively subterranean way of life is assumed. The short fangs - about half as long compared to other Bitis species of the same size - allow biting without having to open the mouth too wide. Small mammals living underground would come into question as food.
Since nothing is known about reproduction either, it is assumed, in analogy to the related species, that the snake gives birth to living young.
Taxonomy
The Ethiopian Puffotter is together with the Gabon Viper ( Bitis gabonica ) and the Rhino Viper ( Bitis nasicornis ) within the genus Bitis in the subgenus Macrocerastes provided. These are larger and mostly clumsily built puff adders, which are mainly characterized by the formation of the head shields. The Nasal is by at least four scales of the first among them Supralabiale and by three or five scales from the rostral separated. In addition, all these species have a triangular head and a pair of horn-like enlarged scales at the tip of the snout, but these are reduced in the Ethiopian puff adder. All three species are forest dwellers, their richly colored coloring serves to camouflage the forest floor.
Snake venom
The composition and effectiveness of the poison is unknown, and no case of a bite is known. It is assumed, however, that some puff adder bites in southern Ethiopia can be traced back to this species. Like its relatives, it is classified as dangerous by the local population; Böhme quotes the snake collector as saying "that the locals in the forest areas between Jimma, Bonga and Gore have often told of a thick, short, very poisonous snake in the coffee plantation". The common puff adder does not occur in the forest areas, so the Ethiopian puff adder must be meant.
Sources and further information
Sources cited
- ↑ according to Mallow et al. 2003, more recent figures are not available
- ↑ Böhme 1977
- ↑ Böhme 1977, page 62
literature
- David Mallow, David Ludwig, Göran Nilson: True Vipers. Natural History and Toxicology of Old World Vipers. Krieger Publishing Company Malabar, Florida 2003, ISBN 0-89464-877-2 , pp. 150-159.
- Wolfgang Böhme: A new species of the genus Bitis (Serpentes, Viperidae) from Ethiopia. Monitore Zoologico Italiano, NS, Supplemento 9, 1977, pp. 59-68.
