Godman's mountain pit viper
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Godman's mountain pit viper ( Cerrophidion godmani ) |
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| Cerrophidion godmani | ||||||||||||
| ( Günther , 1863) |
Cerrophidion godmani ( Cerrophidion godmani ), also Godman-Berg pit viper , is a pit viper of the genus cerrophidion ( Cerrophidion ).
Taxonomy
The first scientific description of the species was made in 1863 by the German zoologist Albert Günther . At that time he assigned them initially under the name Bothriechis godmanni to the palm lance vipers ( Bothriechis ), but also as Bothrops godmani to the American lance vipers ( Bothrops ). Jonathan A. Campbell & William W. Lamar transferred the species to the genus of the hook-nosed lance vipers ( Porthidium ) in 1989 and then to the genus Cerrophidion in 1992 under the now recognized name Cerrophidion godmani . Subspecies are not known.
features
Godman's mountain pit viper reaches a total length of almost 75 cm, and its physique appears slightly stocky. The triangular head, monochrome brown on top, which has a dark band between the eye and the corner of the mouth, is clearly separated from the neck and is covered on the top (back half) by many small scales. The pupil of the rather small eye is slit vertically when light falls. The species has 7 to 10 shields of the upper lip ( scutum supralabiale ), 8 to 11 shields of the lower lip ( scutum sublabiale ), 21 rows of dorsal scales around the middle of the body, 130 to 138 ventral shields ( scutum ventrale ) and 22 to 36 undivided under tail shields ( scutum subcaudale ). The body scales are keeled. The body is basically gray to brownish in color and starting from the neck over the middle of the back to the tail is marked by dark brown, oval to saddle-shaped and finely black-rimmed spots, which in the front half of the body may be fused into a zigzag band. On the side of the body there are elongated spots arranged in a row. The ventral side is colored brown and darkly mottled.
Way of life
Godman's mountain pit viper is both diurnal and nocturnal. You can observe them under tree trunks, between rocks or in bushes, sometimes also while sunbathing, but they often stay hidden. She flees when danger is imminent; she is not particularly aggressive towards people. It maintains a soil-dwelling way of life and mainly prey on rodents , grasshoppers and small lizards . The species reproduces by ovoviviparia , so the females give birth to live young. The litter includes 2–12 juvenile snakes.
toxicology
Cerrophidion godmani , has as Viper-tube retractable fangs at the front upper jaw (solenoglyphe tooth position), through which a in venom glands produced snake venom (Ophiotoxin) is injected into the bite wound. There have been severe bite accidents, but no deaths from this species are known. Investigations of the proteome of the toxins of Cerrophidion godmani , Porthidium nasutum and Porthidium ophryomegas from Costa Rica revealed the presence of nine different protein families for Cerrophidion godmani . The study also showed greater parallels in the chemistry and pharmacology of the toxins of the two Porthidium species and greater differences in their toxins compared to the toxin mixture of Cerrophidion godmani . This fact supports the taxonomic separation of Cerrophidion godmani from the genus Porthidium , together with genetic analyzes that have already been carried out. The poison has procoagulative effects on haemostasis in human blood plasma (promotes blood clotting; possibly disseminated intravascular coagulopathy ). A high content of phospholipase A₂ has strong myotoxic effects, as studies on mice have shown. In addition to procoagulants and myotoxins, some authors also mention haemorrhagic activity, which can lead to bleeding , and also do not rule out cytotoxins .
Occurrence
The distribution area extends in Central America over the southeast of Mexico , Guatemala , Honduras , El Salvador , Nicaragua , Costa Rica and the west of Panama . Areas between 1600 and 3200 m above sea level are populated. Inhabited habitats include both dry and moist mountain forests, rainforests, cloud forests and mountain meadows. Godman's mountain pit viper is common regionally.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Cerrophidion godmani in The Reptile Database ; accessed on April 21, 2012.
- ↑ a b c Mark O'Shea: Venomous snakes. All species in the world in their habitats. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3440106195 .
- ↑ B. Lomonte, P. Rey-Suárez, WC Tsai, Y. Angulo, M. Sasa, JM Gutiérrez, JJ Calvete: Snake venomics of the pit vipers Porthidium nasutum, Porthidium ophryomegas, and Cerrophidion godmani from Costa Rica: toxicological and taxonomical insights. In: Journal of proteomics. Volume 75, Number 5, February 2012, pp. 1675-1689, ISSN 1876-7737 . doi : 10.1016 / j.jprot.2011.12.016 . PMID 22212456 .
literature
- Ludwig Trutnau: poisonous snakes. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-7371-9 .
