Atlas otter
| Atlas otter | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_juvenile_(captive_specimen)_(14886382795).jpg)
Atlas otter ( Daboia mauritanica ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Daboia mauritanica | ||||||||||||
| ( Duméril & Bibron , 1848) |
The Atlas Otter ( Daboia mauritanica , Syn .: Macroektivena mauritanica ) is a species of the Oriental Vipers ( Daboia ) within the Vipers (Viperidae). It is widespread in the western part of North Africa and occurs in Morocco , also in the Western Sahara , Algeria and Tunisia .
features
The Atlas Otter is a large species of vipers and reaches an average length of around 100 to 150 cm, with individual individuals becoming even longer. Representative of the subspecies M. m. deserti on the south side of the Atlas Mountains in the northern Sahara are usually less than one meter long. The basic color is light gray to reddish gray with a pattern on the back consisting of a rounded wavy band that can be broken up into individual spots. In the subspecies M. m. deserti , the band consists of rectangular or diamond-shaped individual spots. The sides of the body often have dark bar marks. Melanistic individuals are not known. The belly is gray with a black mottling. A dark temple band extends over the eyes to the corners of the mouth, a second band runs vertically from the eyes to the mouth.
The very broad and triangular head is clearly separated from the strong body. The eyes have vertical pupils . The head shields are completely dissolved into small individual scales. Below the eyes there are two to three rows of under eye shields ( supraocularia ). The body scales are keeled. There are 27 rows of scales around the middle of the body. The under- tail shields ( Subcaudalia ) are divided as in all species of the genus.
distribution and habitat
The Atlas otter is distributed over large parts of western North Africa north and south of the Atlas Mountains and is therefore found in Morocco , Western Sahara , Algeria and Tunisia . As a habitat, it prefers sunny mountain slopes interspersed with rocks and vegetation at altitudes of over 2,000 meters.
Way of life
The atlas otter is predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal and is a pure ground snake. During the day it is in crevices or under stones. It feeds mainly on small mammals such as mice and rats, as well as lizards and birds, which it kills with a poison bite. The young snakes feed on small lizards.
The snake lay eggs ( oviparous ), the young snakes hatch after six to eight weeks.
Systematics
→ Main article: Oriental vipers # systematics
The Atlas Otter has long been classified in the genus of real vipers ( Vipera ), together with most other European vipers. In 1992 the genus Vipera was revised , in which the atlas viper was classified together with three other species in the genus of the great vipers ( Macrophia ) on the basis of biochemical characteristics ; at the same time, the chain viper was the only species of the genus Daboia .
By Lenk et al. In 2001, however, this compilation was questioned. On a molecular biological basis, the assignment of the African Macroocket and the Palestine Aviper to the genus Daboia was proposed. This view is confirmed by Garrigues et al. 2004: As with Lenk et al. In 2001 the genus of large vipers is paraphyletic in the current compilation, the chain viper ( Daboia russeli ) forms a taxon with the Palestine viper and the former African large viper species . Mallow et al. 2003 accordingly classified the Palestine otter in the genus, the Atlas otter was named by Wüster et al. based on the results of Lenk et al. put to Daboia .
Danger
The Atlas Otter is listed in the IUCN Red List as a type of warning list (“near threatened”) due to its decreasing population.
Snake venom
The poison of the atlas viper is hemotoxic like that of all viper species , medical treatment with an adequate antivenin is necessary.
swell
Sources cited
Most of the information in this article has been taken from the sources given under literature; the following sources are also cited:
- ↑ Herrmann, H.-W., U. Joger & G. Nilson (1992): Phylogeny and systematics of viperine snakes. III: resurrection of the genus Macroektivena (Reuss, 1927) as suggested by biochemical evidence. Amphibia-Reptilia, 13: 375-392
- ↑ Lenk, P., S. Kalayabina, M. Wink & U. Joger (2001) Evolutionary relationships among the true vipers (Reptilia: Viperidae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 19: 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.
- ↑ David Mallow, David Ludwig, Göran Nilson: True Vipers. Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Krieger Publishing Company Malabar, Florida, 2003; Pages 141-159. ISBN 0-89464-877-2
- ↑ Wolfgang Wüster, Lindsay Peppin, Catharine E. Pook, Daniel E. Walker: A nesting of vipers: Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Viperidae (Squamata: Serpentes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 49 (2008); Pp. 445-459.
- ↑ Daboia mauritanica in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009.2. Posted by: Miras, JAM, Joger, U., Pleguezuelos, J. & Slimani, T., 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
literature
- Ulrich Gruber: The snakes of Europe. Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989; Pages 208-209. ISBN 3-440-05753-4
- David Mallow, David Ludwig, Göran Nilson: True Vipers. Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Krieger Publishing Company Malabar, Florida, 2003; ISBN 0-89464-877-2