Ordinary mamba
| Ordinary mamba | ||||||||||||
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Common mamba ( Dendroaspis angusticeps ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dendroaspis angusticeps | ||||||||||||
| ( A. Smith , 1849) |
The common mamba ( Dendroaspis angusticeps ), also narrow-headed mamba or leafy green mamba , is a venomous snake from the genus of mambas , which occurs from Kenya , Uganda , Tanzania , Malawi , Mozambique and Zimbabwe to Natal .
features
The common mamba is usually 2 m long, but can also reach 2.7 m. The long, narrow head hardly stands out from the neck. The eyes are large and have round pupils. The inside of the mouth is white to bluish white (in contrast to the black mamba ). The body is elongated and very flexible. Its color is light green. However, the young are still blue-green at birth. With each moult, their color gradually changes from head to tail into adult color.
The common mamba has seven to ten shields of the upper lip . The fourth touches the lower edge of the eye. The scales are elongated and keeled and stand in 17 to 21 rows. There are 201 to 232 ventral and 96 to 126 tail shields . The number of abdominal shields is usually lower in males.
Way of life
The common mamba lives in evergreen thickets and gallery forests near rivers. If the black mamba also occurs in the same area, it lives in open terrain, while the common mamba remains in thick bushes. It also invades houses and hides under thatched roofs. It feeds mainly on birds and their eggs, but also on small mammals and lizards.
Before mating, the males measure their strength in comment fights . You end up with the weaker one fleeing. The eggs are laid in piles of leaves on the ground or in hollow trees filled with humus from October to November. The young hatch from late December to February.
Systematics
In addition to the common mamba, there are three other species in the genus Dendroaspis :
- Black mamba ( Dendroaspis polylepis )
- Green mamba ( Dendroaspis viridis )
- Jameson's Mamba ( Dendroaspis jamesoni )
Poisonous effect
The poison of the common mamba is also very dangerous for humans, but only about half as strong as that of the black mamba . Immediate treatment with a species-specific snake serum is indicated after a bite . The toxins of the Mamba species contain dendrotoxins , which block the potassium channels in the cell membrane . This results in a disturbance of the electrical stimulus propagation in the heart and there is a risk of a cardiac arrhythmia .
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ General and special pharmacology and toxicology. 7th edition. Spektrum Verlag, 1996, p. 891, chapter 32.10.
literature
- Ludwig Trutnau: poisonous snakes. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8001-7371-9 .
