Darevski's adder
| Darevski's adder | ||||||||||||
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Vipera darevskii (male) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Vipera darevskii | ||||||||||||
| Vedmederja , Orlov & Tunyev , 1986 |
Darevski's adder ( Vipera darevskii ), also Darevski adder or Darevski's Caucasus otter , is a species of the real otters ( Vipera ) within the vipers (Viperidae). Their distribution is limited to the Javakheti massif in the border region of Armenia . The scientific name honors the Russian zoologist Ilja Sergejewitsch Darewski (* 1925).
features
Darevski's adder is a very small species of the genus, reaching an average length of about 26 to 48 cm, with the females being larger than the males. The basic color is yellowish to grayish-yellow with a back drawing of a wide and quite uniform zigzag band. The sides of the body have dark spots that can fuse together. Melanistic individuals are not known. The belly is dark gray with black speckles. The top of the head is dark, there are two crescent-shaped strips of tape on the nape of the neck, and a dark temple tape runs over the eyes.
The head is narrow and slightly set off from the rest of the body. Darevski's adder has the vertically slit pupils typical of vipers . On the top of the head, the frontal , parietals and over- eye shields are large, but can also be divided. The remaining shields are broken up into small individual scales. The over-eye shield forms a sharp edge towards the back of the head, while the muzzle region is rounded. The nostril is located in the lower part of the nasals . Below the eyes there is a series of under-eye shields (subocularia), beneath which are 9 to 10 upper lip shields ( supralabials ). The body scales are keeled. There are usually 19 to 21 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 western Caucasus otter was only known from the Javakheti massif in the border area of Armenia with Georgia . It was not until 2005 that populations were discovered in the Artvin province in northeastern Turkey. The animals prefer subalpine mountain meadows and stony moraines at altitudes between 2,500 and 3,000 meters as their habitat .
Way of life
Hardly any data are available on the way of life of Darevski's adder, in this respect it probably resembles the Caucasian otter ( V. kaznakovi ). Accordingly, it is likely to be predominantly diurnal and tend to live hidden away. The hibernation lasts six to seven months in this species. It probably feeds primarily on small mammals such as mice and rats as well as on lizards and young birds, which it kills with a poison bite.
The snake is viviparous ( ovoviviparous ). The assumed mating season is April to May due to the high altitude.
Snake venom
The venom of Darevski's adder, like that of all Vipera species, is haemotoxic ; medical treatment with an adequate antivenin is necessary.
Danger
The individual populations of the species are small and scattered. Since the total known range is likely to be less than 100 square kilometers, with the actual habitat being restricted and overgrazed to less than 10 square kilometers, the species is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List .
literature
- David Mallow, David Ludwig, Göran Nilson: True Vipers. Natural History and Toxicology of Old World Vipers , Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar (Florida) 2003, pp. 285-287, ISBN 0-89464-877-2
- Ulrich Gruber: The snakes of Europe. Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989; Pages 198-199. ISBN 3-440-05753-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Vipera darevskii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: Boris Tuniyev, Göran Nilson, Aram Agasyan, Nikolai Orlov, Sako Tuniyev, in 2009.