Island lance viper
| Island lance viper | ||||||||||||
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Island lance viper ( Bothrops insularis ) |
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| Bothrops insularis | ||||||||||||
| ( Amaral , 1922) |
The Island Viper ( Bothrops insularis ) is a species of snake from the family of Vipers ( Viperidae ), subfamily of pit vipers ( Crotalinae ). It is endemic to the Brazilian island of Queimada Grande in the Atlantic Ocean off the state of São Paulo . The island is only 43 hectares in size. It was not until 1921 that the Brazilian snake researcher Afrânio Pompílio Bastos do Amaral (1894–1982), who became director of the snake research institute Butantan in Sao Paulo ( Instituto Butantan ), recognized and described the island lance viper as a separate species .
features
The island lance viper is on average 70 cm long (total length), with a maximum total length of 118 cm. The species is quite slender compared to other lance vipers. The basic color of the top is light brown to gold in color. On it is a drawing of dark, triangular or square spots, which can be narrow or wide and either face one another or alternate in the middle of the back. The spotting can also be very faint or completely absent.
Way of life
It lives in the bush forest and in the thick grass of the island and is predominantly tree-dwelling (arboricol). Due to electronic markings, some specimens could be determined not to leave the trees for years.
Today the species feeds mainly on birds. In an investigation, birds made up 85% of the prey, and other snakes and millipedes have also been identified as food. It is believed that since the island separated from the mainland, which is 36 km away today (around 15,000 years ago during the Ice Age ) , the species has specialized in birds as a food source due to its spread and displacement of other life. The birds only rest on Queimada Grande twice a year during their migration. The island lance viper does not actively hunt, but waits in the tree until a bird comes within range.
Because of the isolation of the island lance viper from the mainland since the last ice age, the gene pool is very small. Researchers at the Instituto Butantan assume that inbreeding caused hereditary disorders in the mechanism of sex determination. The island lance viper developed four sexes: In addition to male and female specimens, there are male animals with female genital organs and vice versa; true hermaphrodites (self-fertilizers) seem to be (rarely) among the last two sexes . Due to the increasing proportion of individuals with impaired gender determination (1930: 40%, 1955: already 70%) and the sharply decreasing proportion of females (1930: only 10%, 1955: 3%), the reproductive rate is continuously falling.
A two-day herpetologist excursion in 1965 could not find a single specimen, in 1966 AR Hoge from the Instituto Butantan caught seven animals, one of which was taken care of by Robert Mertens (Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt / Main). In 1977, Petzold suspected that the island lance viper would become extinct in the near future. Estimates from 2014 speak of only 3000 copies. The International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) and the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) are committed to the conservation of the critically endangered species.
Systematics
So far, no subspecies have been described for the island lance viper. A molecular genetic investigation that includes all species or taxa of the genus Bothrops is not yet available. In the most comprehensive molecular genetic work to date, which considered 28 species or forms of the genus, the Jararaca lance viper ( Bothrops jararaca ) was identified as the closest relative of the island lance viper .
Poison
The poison of the species has about five times the concentration of the Jararaca lance viper . The poison therefore acts extremely quickly, so that bitten prey birds can no longer fly away. Tests have shown that the poison kills mice within 2 seconds. It is therefore very interesting for pharmaceutical research, which also causes the illegal animal trade on the scene. One gram of lance viper venom from the Amazonian Jararaca was traded for 2,000 US dollars in 1999; the much rarer venom of the island lance viper is likely to cost more. Island lanceolers have been illegally caught and have appeared in an animal market in Amsterdam .
pharmacology
The active ingredient captopril is modeled on the ACE-inhibiting peptides of the venom of the Jararaca lance viper ( Bothrops jararaca ), especially the island lance viper. Captopril is the lead substance for the group of ACE inhibitors . A patent for the specific Capoten ( generic Captopril) has been granted to the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb . In 2004 the Instituto Butantan registered a patent for Evasine (Endogenous Vasopeptidases Inhibitors), a group of hypertension drugs with fewer side effects than captopril.
Trivia
The island's lighthouse has long been operated automatically, as several guards died from snakebites in earlier decades. Access to the island, which was declared a national nature reserve in 1985, is only allowed for scientists; originally also because of the previously high density of poisonous snakes, now because the snake species is threatened and illegal snake trapping is worsening its situation. The snake habitat is deteriorating due to the removal of vegetation by Brazilian marines who keep the lighthouse running.
supporting documents
- ↑ after Alphonse Richard Hoge (1912-1982) from Instituto Butantan
- ↑ Hans-Günter Petzold: Vipers and pit vipers. In Grzimeks Tierleben, Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom, Ed. Bernhard Grzimek. Zurich 1975-1977; Volume 6 (reptiles), p. 486
- ↑ Martin Zinggl in his lecture on June 12, 2014 in the Austrian Society for Herpetology in Vienna about Queimada Grande [1]
- ^ W. Wüster, MG Salomão, JA Quijada-Mascareñas, RS Thorpe and BBBS P: Origin and evolution of the South American pitocket fauna: evidence from mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis. In: GW Schuett, M. Höggren, ME Douglas & HW Greene (eds): Biology of the Vipers. Eagle Mountain Publishing, Eagle Mountain, Utah, 2002: pp. 111-128.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Zs. Época, March 29, 1999, accessed January 5, 2013
- ↑ Report in the Brazilian weekly newspaper Isto é from September 24, 2003
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated January 3, 2006 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 notice. Jornal da Ciência, accessed January 5, 2013
- ↑ Bothrop insularis - Assessment Information on IUCN Redlist of Endangered Species (English)
literature
- Jonathan A. Campbell, William W. Lamar: The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. Comstock; Ithaca, London. 2004. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2
- Ângelo Barbosa Monteiro & al. (Ed.): Livro vermelho da fauna brasileira ameaçada de extinção. Brasília, MMA; Belo Horizonte, Fundação Biodiversitas, 2008 (new edition 2010) II vol., P. 352.
Web links
- Bothrops insularis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Endangered Species . Posted by: Marques, OAV, Martins, M. & Sazima, I., 2004. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
- Bothrops insularis in The Reptile Database