Armenian mountain otter
| Armenian mountain otter | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Armenian mountain otter ( Montivipera raddei ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Montivipera raddei | ||||||||||||
| ( Boettger , 1890) |
The Armenian mountain otter ( Montivipera raddei , syn .: Vipera raddei ), also Raddes otter , is a type of mountain otter ( Montivipera ) within the vipers (Viperidae). It is spread over other parts of Armenia , Azerbaijan , northwestern Iran and the eastern border area of Turkey . The scientific name honors the German-Russian zoologist Gustav Radde (1831–1903).
features
The Armenian mountain otter is a medium-sized species of the genus and reaches an average length of around 70 to 90 cm, with the females being larger than the males and record lengths of around 110 cm. The basic color is gray-brown, light gray, clay or black-gray with a back drawing made from a wavy or zigzag band. This consists of fused yellow to yellow-orange or reddish spots on the back, which can be bordered in black at the edges. The sides of the body often have dark bar marks. Melanistic individuals are not known. The belly is dark gray to blackish gray. The top of the head is drawn dark in the back area, in front of it are two separate point spots. A dark band of temples extends over the eyes to the corners of the mouth.
The head is narrow and set off somewhat from the rest of the comparatively slim body. The eyes have vertical pupils . With the exception of the triangular over-eye shields, which protrude over the eyes, the head shields are broken up into small individual scales. The over-eye shield forms a sharp edge towards the back of the head, while the muzzle region is rounded. The nostril is located in the lower part of the nasals . Below the eyes there are two rows of under-eye shields ( supraocularia ), underneath are 9 to 10 upper-lip shields ( supralabials ). The body scales are keeled. Around the middle of the body there are usually 23 to 24, more rarely 21 to 25 rows of scales. The under- tail shields ( Subcaudalia ) are divided as in all species of the genus.
distribution and habitat
.png)
The Armenian mountain otter can be found in Armenia , Azerbaijan , northwestern Iran and the eastern border area of Turkey . As a habitat, it prefers light oak forests and mountain slopes interspersed with rocks at altitudes between 1,200 and 3,000 meters.
Way of life
The Armenian mountain otter is mainly diurnal and lives more hidden than ground snake. The hibernation of this species lasts up to seven months, depending on the altitude. It probably feeds primarily on small mammals such as mice and rats as well as on lizards and young birds, which it kills with a poison bite. The young snakes feed on small lizards.
The snake is viviparous ( oviviviparous ). The assumed mating season is April to May due to the high altitude.
Systematics
Two subspecies are distinguished within the Armenian mountain otter:
- M. r. raddei in Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Turkish-Russian border area
- M. r. kurdistanica in northwestern Iran and the Iranian-Turkish border area
The taxonomic classification of the species is currently under discussion, therefore two alternative generic names can be found in the literature. Traditionally, the mountain otter was assigned to the genus Vipera and formed within this a species complex with a number of other species, which is known as the Vipera xanthina complex. All species within this complex share anatomical features with the mountain otter and live scattered across Asia Minor in higher altitudes of relatively isolated mountain landscapes.
Including the mountain otter, the genus Montivipera now includes the following species:
- M. albicornuta
- M. albizona
- Lebanese mountain otter ( M. bornmuelleri )
- Taurian mountain otter ( M. bulgardaghica )
- Alborz Mountain Otter ( M. latifii )
- Armenian mountain otter ( V. raddei )
- Wagner's mountain otter ( M. wagneri )
- Asian mountain otter ( M. xanthina )
Up until a few years ago, some of these species were considered to be subspecies of the Asian mountain otter, although the species status of V. bulgardaghica or V. albicornuta, for example, is still controversial today.
In 1999, it was proposed that this complex be relocated from the genus Vipera under the new genus name Montivipera , although this was only able to establish itself to a limited extent in the literature. In 2005 Joger and Nilson led the mountain otters under the species name Montivipera xanthina and the database The Reptile Database established the genus Montivipera as a separate genus and separated it from Vipera . Mallow et al. 2003 leads this and the other species, however, still under the established names within the genus Vipera and assign them to the subgenus Montivipera .
By Lenk et al. In 2001 the monophyly of the Montivipera species was confirmed as a separate taxon via immunological studies. According to the results, however, these represent the sister group of two great viper species ( Macrophia ) within a complex of Daboia , Macroocket and the Montivipera species, whereby the genus Vipera with the inclusion of the subgenus Montivipera is no longer a natural relatives group with all descendants of a parent species (monophyletic Group) is durable and to be regarded as paraphyletic.
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
This view is confirmed by Garrigues et al. 2004, in which the vipers form a European section from different Vipera species as well as an oriental section from the named genera Daboia and Macroypena and the Montivipera species. Today all species of the xanthina complex of the genus Montivipera are added accordingly .
Snake venom
The poison of the Armenian mountain otter, like that of all Vipera species, is haemotoxic ; medical treatment with an adequate antivenin is necessary.
supporting documents
- ^ G. Nilson, C. Andrés: The mountain vipers of the middle east - The Vipera xanthina complex (Reptilia, Viperidae). Bonn Zoological Monographs No. 20, Bonn 1986; ISBN 3-925382-20-8
- ↑ All information from Mallows et al. 2003
- ↑ Montivipera in The Reptile Database ; Retrieved January 22, 2011.
- ↑ Lenk, P., S. Kalayabina, M. Wink & U. Joger: Evolutionary relationships among the true vipers (Reptilia: Viperidae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 19; 2001: 94-104. ( Full text PDF )
- ↑ Thomas Garrigues, Catherine Dauga, Elisabeth Ferquel, Valérie Choumet and Anna-Bella Failloux: Molecular phylogeny of Vipera Laurenti, 1768 and the related genera Macroypena (Reuss, 1927) and Daboia (Gray, 1842), with comments about neurotoxic Vipera aspis aspis populations. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35 (1), 2005; Pp. 35-47.
- ↑ Nikolaus Sümple, Ulrich Joger: Recent advances in phylogeny and taxonomy of Near and Middle Eastern Vipers - an update. ZooKeys 31 (2009), Special Issue. ( PDF download ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ).
literature
- David Mallow, David Ludwig, Göran Nilson: True Vipers. Natural History and Toxicology of Old World Vipers , Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar (Florida) 2003, pp. 285-287, ISBN 0-89464-877-2
- Ulrich Gruber: The snakes of Europe. Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989; Pages 198-199. ISBN 3-440-05753-4 .
Web links
- Montivipera raddei in The Reptile Database
- Montivipera raddei inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: Göran Nilson, Claus Andrén, Aziz Avci, Ferdi Akarsu, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2013.