Basilisk rattlesnake
| Basilisk rattlesnake | ||||||||||||
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Basilisk rattlesnake ( Crotalus basiliscus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Crotalus basiliscus | ||||||||||||
| ( Cope , 1864) |
The basilisk rattlesnake ( Crotalus basiliscus ) is a species of the genus rattlesnakes ( Crotalus ) that is only found on the west coast of Mexico .
features
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The basilisk rattlesnake grows up to two meters long, rarely over two meters. The basic color of the snake is yellowish-brown, olive-green, red-brown or brown. On the back she has several diamond-shaped drawings, which, however, usually only stand out slightly from the basic color. The diamonds are bordered by lighter scales, whereby the border can also be incomplete, especially near the tail. The head is usually light with a darker mark from the eye to the back of the mouth. Like almost all rattlesnakes, it has a noticeable tail rattle .
distribution and habitat
The basilisk rattlesnake only lives on the west coast of Mexico in a narrow distribution area from Sonora to Michoacán , which extends about 200 kilometers into the interior of Mexico. As a habitat , the snake prefers the thorn steppes of the Mexican coast with sparse forests and pine - oak forests in higher elevations.
Snake venom
Little is known about the specific effects of the venom of this snake; it is believed that it resembles that of other rattlesnakes, especially the closely related black-tailed rattlesnake ( Crotalus molossus ). As a relatively large species, it emits large amounts of poison with corresponding effectiveness.
literature
- Chris Mattison: Rattlers! - A natural history of rattlesnakes. Blandford, London 1996, ISBN 0-7137-2534-6
Web links
- Crotalus basiliscus in The Reptile Database
- Crotalus basiliscus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Ponce-Campos, P. & García Aguayo, A., 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2013.