Egyptian sand rattle otter
| Egyptian sand rattle otter | ||||||||||||
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Egyptian sand rattle otter |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Echis pyramidum | ||||||||||||
| ( Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire , 1827) |
The Egyptian sand rattle otter ( Echis pyramidum ), also Northeast African sand rattle otter , is a very venomous snake from the family of vipers (Viperidae).
description
Like most sand rattle otters , this species also reaches a body length of 40 to 50 cm, rarely up to 80 cm. As with many vipers , the males of this species are usually larger. Their color ranges from gray, olive, reddish to brown, which is interrupted by light spots. The short, rounded head stands out clearly from the body and has comparatively large eyes. Overall, the Egyptian sand rattle otter looks slim. The lateral scales are inclined and keeled. With these scales they generate a rattle like a rattlesnake when threatened by rotating movement , hence their name. The Egyptian sand rattle otter is one of the egg-laying snakes.
distribution
The Egyptian sand rattle otter is found in the following countries: Kenya, Somalia, southern Ethiopia, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Sudan and Pakistan. There it lives mainly in barren rock and bush landscapes, in the desert, in savannas and in the vicinity of human settlements. During the day it hides under stones, rubble or bushes, at night it goes hunting.
nutrition
When the Egyptian sand rattle otter leaves its hiding place in the evening, it goes in search of small mammals, small lizards and small birds.
Poison
All sand rattle otters have a highly potent snake venom . The poison contains, among other things, a highly effective hemotoxin (blood poison) and a less effective neurotoxin (nerve poison). The enzyme ecarin is responsible for disrupting blood clotting . The poison is very stable in the circulatory system, so that the blood cannot coagulate for weeks. After a bite, insatiable bleeding occurs within one to six hours from the bite wound and through the mucous membranes, causing blood to leak from the nose, mouth and intestines. The skin changes color around the bite site. The bitten limb swells extremely and necrosis occurs . Other consequences can be vomiting of blood, bloody saliva and bruises under the skin, as well as cardiac arrhythmias, drop in blood pressure, cerebral haemorrhage and kidney damage. Symptoms of paralysis and shock can also occur. Without antiserum treatment, death occurs in most cases.
There is no special antiserum ( antivenin ) against the poison of the Egyptian sand rattle otters , in the event of a bite a remedy that is generally useful in Echis species is used.
Systematics
According to various sources, the species is also regarded as a subspecies of the common sand rattle otter ( Echis carinatus ). Usually three subspecies are described:
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
- Ulrich Gruber: The snakes in Europe and around the Mediterranean . Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-440-05753-4
Web links
- Echis pyramidum in The Reptile Database
- Echis pyramidum inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Joger, U., Geniez, P., Crochet, PA. & Baha El Din, S., 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
supporting documents
- ↑ u. a. at Gruber 1989
- ↑ according to ITIS and Mallow et al. 2003