Arabian sand rattle otter
| Arabian sand rattle otter | ||||||||||||
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Arabian sand otter ( E. coloratus ) |
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| Echis coloratus | ||||||||||||
| Günther , 1878 |
The Arabian sand otter ( Echis coloratus ) is a species of the vipers (Viperidae) and belongs to the genus of the sand otter ( Echis ). The snake is common on the Sinai and the Arabian Peninsula .
features
The appearance of the Arabian sand otter is very similar to the common sand otter and, like them, reaches an average length of about 60 to 80 cm. However, it is built a bit slimmer.
The body color is very variable; The spectrum of the basic color ranges from yellow-brown to gray-brown to rust-brown. The back is usually darker in color than the sides of the animals and has a pattern of light oval- rhomboid spots or short transverse bands that are bordered by dark scales and can be light gray or rust-pink in the center. These bars extend from the neck to the tail. The sides of the body are marked by blue-gray spots. The head also has a light, variable pattern on the top and a temple band that extends over the eyes to the corner of the mouth.
The head is clearly separated from the head and has the shape of a rounded triangle. The eyes are very large and have vertical, slit-shaped pupils . The top of the head is covered with many irregular and keeled scales. Below the eyes, the most important distinguishing feature from the common sand rattle otter, is three to four rows of under-eye shields ( supraocularia ) instead of just two rows. Below that are 12 to 15 shields of the upper lip ( supralabials ).
The scales of the body are also strongly keeled and can generate a typical, rattling noise by rubbing against each other, which gave the sand rattle otters their name. There are between 23 and 27 rows of scales around the middle of the body. Unlike all other vipers, all members of the genus Echis have undivided under- tail shields ( Subcaudalia ).
distribution and habitat
The Arabian sand otter is widespread in the desert areas from eastern Egypt via the Sinai Peninsula to the Arabian Peninsula including Saudi Arabia and thus lives sympathetically with the common sand otter in large parts of its habitat .
As a habitat, the animals prefer mountainous rock deserts with only sparse thorn bush vegetation. The animals can be found up to an altitude of 2600 m above sea level .
Way of life
The common sand rattle otter can be diurnal, but is predominantly nocturnal and feeds primarily on small mammals such as mice and rats as well as other small animals such as birds, lizards, frogs and other snakes. Their locomotion is meandering or crosswinding. By rubbing the flank scales together, the snake generates a typical rattling noise as a warning sound when it feels disturbed. When threatened, it also rolls up like a plate and strikes very quickly by letting its head snap forward.
The snake is egg-laying ( oviparous ) and lays seven to nine eggs per litter. She sticks this to hard ground, for example under stones or in crevices, where the young snakes later hatch without brood care.
Snake venom
The poison of the Arabian sand rattle otter is very strong hemorrhagin, so it leads to internal bleeding and bleeding from body orifices due to blood vessel damage , and it is zyototoxic , so it causes tissue to die and thus leads to necrosis (especially around the bite site). Furthermore, the poison of the Arabian sand rattle otter contains procoagulants, which lead to blood clots and a disruption of the blood clotting factors, so that the blood clots can no longer be dissolved and in rare cases can lead to fatal pulmonary embolisms or strokes as well as thrombosis . Medical treatment with an adequate antivenin is necessary. The strong irritability as well as the proximity to human agricultural areas lead to frequent bites, at least four deaths are known to date.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mark O'Shea, Venomous Snakes. All species of the world in their habitats, Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, 2006 - ISBN 3440106195
literature
- Ahmad M. Disi, David Modrý, Petr Nečas, Lina Rifai: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. To Atlas and Field Guide . Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main 2001, 230–232.
- David Mallow, David Ludwig, Göran Nilson: True Vipers. Natural History and Toxicology of Old World Vipers , Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar (Florida) 2003; Pp. 164-167. ISBN 0-89464-877-2 .
- Ulrich Gruber: The snakes of Europe. Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989; Pages 180-182. ISBN 3-440-05753-4 .
