MacMahon viper
| MacMahon viper | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg)
MacMahon viper ( Eristicophis macmahonii ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Eristicophis | ||||||||||||
| Alcock & Finn , 1897 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Eristicophis macmahonii | ||||||||||||
| Alcock & Finn, 1897 |
The MacMahon viper ( Eristicophis macmahonii , also Eristicophis macmahoni ) is a species of snake from the family of vipers and the only species of the genus Eristicophis . She lives in deserts and semi-deserts in eastern Iran , Afghanistan and Pakistan .
features
anatomy
MacMahon vipers are small to medium-sized, very powerfully built snakes with a short, worm-shaped tail. The tail is not suitable for grasping. The head is short, broad, strongly flattened and clearly set off from the neck. The canthus is rounded. The muzzle is strikingly straight at the tip. The animals have overall lengths of 708 to 722 mm, of which 63 to 72 mm are on the tail.
Scaling
The rostral is much wider than it is tall. Above the sides of the rostral are two large scales reminiscent of butterfly wings, the outer edges of which protrude freely to the sides. Like the rest of the body, the top of the head is covered with small, keeled scales. The eyes are surrounded by 16 to 25 small scales. The number of supralabials is 15 to 16. The number of ventral scales ( ventral shields ) varies between 140 and 145, the number of divided subcaudalia between 23 and 27 and the number of dorsal rows of scales in the middle of the body between 23 and 29.
coloring
The basic color of the top is light reddish brown to sand-colored. The animals show 20 to 25 small dark brown spots on the flanks, which are bordered by white dots at the top. The base of the tail is cross-banded in brown, the tail is yellowish in color. The sides of the head show a narrow whitish and underneath an equally narrow dark postocular stripe, which extends from the rear edge of the eye to the corner of the nose.
distribution and habitat
The range of the MacMahon viper stretches from the east of Iran over the south of Afghanistan to the southwest of Pakistan . The animals live in deserts and semi-deserts and are morphologically adapted to life on almost vegetation-free sand dunes.
Lifestyle, Diet and Reproduction
.jpg)
The species is nocturnal and only lives on the ground. The day is spent buried in the sand, the animals can very quickly dig themselves into loose sand through swaying and wave-like movements. Like many vipers, the species is a stalker: when hunting, it burrows itself so deeply into the sand that only eyes and nostrils protrude. After the bite, the prey is held until it is almost dead. The food spectrum includes lizards and arthropods . Apparently, very little is known about reproduction, mating probably takes place from March to May.
toxicology
The MacMahon viper, like all vipers, is poisonous, but bites are apparently very rare, as the habitats inhabited by the species are rarely visited by humans. The lethality of a poison bite is unknown. Reports of individual deaths should be viewed critically. The toxin mixture contains, among other things, procoagulants with an influence on hemostasis and possibly neurotoxic components. Eristostatin , a polypeptide from the group of disintegrins , is an inhibitor of ADP -induced platelet aggregation and has been shown to be an effective inhibitor against human metastases of malignant melanoma in animal experiments .
In the absence of clinical reports, little is known about the exact effects in humans. Local effects such as pain , swelling, edema , blistering and necrosis are possible. Non-specific general symptoms (e.g. headache , nausea , vomiting , abdominal pain , diarrhea , dizziness , shock , convulsions ) can occur. Moderately severe neurotoxic complaints are possible, but life-threatening symptoms of paralysis are unlikely.
Existence and endangerment
There is no data on the size of the total population or the population trend, the species is not listed by the IUCN .
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b WCH Clinical Toxinology Resources: Eristicophis macmahonii (accessed August 25, 2015)
- ↑ UniProt: Disintegrin Eristostatin (accessed on August 25, 2015)
literature
- MS Khan: Venomous terrestrial snakes of Pakistan and snake bite problem. In: P. Gopalakrishnakone, LM Chou: Snakes of Medical Importance. Venom and Toxin Research Group, National University of Singapore, 1990: pp. 419-445. ISBN 9971-62-217-3
- MS Khan: The snakes of Pakistan. Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History, Volume 15, Edition Chimaira. Frankfurt am Main 2002: pp. 187–188 and 200. ISBN 3-930612-43-7
