Avicennaviper
| Avicennaviper | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Avicennaviper ( Cerastes vipera ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cerastes vipera | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Avicennaviper ( Cerastes vipera ) is a species of snake from the genus of the African horned viper ( Cerastes ), which, however, unlike the other species of the genus, usually has no horns above the eyes.
Mark
The Avicennaviper is very similar to the desert horned viper ( C. cerastes ) and thus belongs to the medium-sized vipers with a stocky body and a short, pointed tail. The body length is usually around 35 cm with maximum lengths up to 50 cm. Their basic color is sand-yellow to red-brown and the snake has an indistinctly recognizable rust-brown mark on its back and flanks; the head is not drawn. The belly side is light yellow, the tip of the tail in the females is black and in the males the basic color has indistinct brown rings.
The broad, triangular head is clearly set off from the body, but mostly has no horns on the over-eye shields of the Supraocularia . In contrast to the desert horned viper, the eyes are directed upwards at an angle instead of to the side, the pupil is vertical and slit elongated. The top of the head is covered with many unevenly distributed scales. Below the eyes there are three to four rows of under-eye shields (subocularia), and the snakes have 10 to 12 upper-lip shields ( supralabials ).
The scales on the back are strongly keeled and arranged in 23 to 27 rows. The flank scales have sawtooth-like keels, the ventral scales have strong side keels. The subcaudalia are divided into two parts.
distribution and habitat
The Avicennaviper lives in the desert areas of North Africa from Mauritania to Egypt as well as in Mali and Niger . They can also be found in Israel and Lebanon . The viper prefers to live in the sandy desert areas as well as in areas with sparse vegetation . In the latter in particular, it often occurs together with the desert horned viper.
Way of life
The Avicennaviper is primarily crepuscular and nocturnal. In the midday heat, it buries itself in the sand or hides in rodent burrows. With the help of jerky movements of her ribs digs into the loose sand until only the eyes are visible. The locomotion happens over cross winds. In doing so, she alternately lifts a piece of the body behind the head and in front of the tail off the ground and sets it down again offset. The snake leaves the characteristic traces of the sidewalks in the sand. By rubbing their scales together, they can make a rattling sound.
The preferred prey include small vertebrates such as lizards or rodents, but also insects. The animals are ovoviviparous , the three to five fully developed juvenile snakes are born wrapped in a thin membrane that is left immediately.
Snake venom
The poison of Cerastes Vipera is strong hemotoxic , medical treatment with an appropriate antivenin is necessary.
literature
- David Mallow, David Ludwig, Göran Nilson: True Vipers. Natural History and Toxicology of Old World Vipers , Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar (Florida) 2003, pp. 132-140, ISBN 0-89464-877-2
- Ulrich Gruber: The snakes of Europe. Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989; Pages 205-207. ISBN 3-440-05753-4 . Pages 173-175
Web links
- Cerastes vipera in The Reptile Database
- Cerastes vipera inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Wilms, T., Wagner, P., Joger, U., Geniez, P., Crochet, P.-A., El Mouden, EH & Mateo, JA, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2014.