Mahafalynatter
| Mahafalynatter | ||||||||||||
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Mahafalynatter ( Mimophis mahfalensis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Mimophis | ||||||||||||
| Günther , 1868 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Mimophis mahfalensis | ||||||||||||
| ( Grandidier , 1867) |
The Mahafalynatter ( Mimophis mahfalensis ) is a snake belonging to the family Lamprophiidae and the only species within the monotypical genus Mimophis . It is only widespread in Madagascar and is mainly adapted to the arid regions.
features
The Mahafali snake reaches an average length of 65 centimeters, but can be up to 75 centimeters long. It is very variable in its color and mostly adapted to the local subsoil. The basic color varies from gray-brown to fawn-brown, the markings are gender-specific. The females are mostly uniformly brown with no conspicuous back markings, while the males have a conspicuous dark brown head markings in the form of two flame-like broad lines that merge into a wide zigzag band behind the neck. This extends over the entire body to the tail. The underside is colored red-brown like a checkerboard, the anal is divided.
The head is clearly set off from the body and very narrow. The eyes are medium in size and the pupils are round. They are covered by large over-eye shields ( supraocularia ) and thus protected from mechanical influences (e.g. sand litter).
distribution and habitat
The range of the Mahafalynatter is limited to Madagascar . It can be found regularly in the thorn bush and grass savannahs of the south as well as in the dry forests of the west of the island.
Way of life
The Mahafala snake is a diurnal ground snake and foraging for food even during the hot lunchtime. She actively searches and hunts by finding potential hiding places for her prey. It feeds mainly on lizards and small mammals .
Snake venom
Like most other snake-like snakes in Madagascar, the Mahafala snake is poisonous. It has fangs with a groove (ophistoglyphe fangs) in the rear area of the upper jaw. The poison kills the prey relatively quickly, but bite accidents in humans are not known.
Systematics
The Mahafalynatter is the only species in the monotypic genus Mimophis , over which there is disagreement about the recognition of the Mimophis mahfalensis madagascariensis as a separate species. It is the only snake species native to Madagascar that is related to the African sand snakes ( Psammophis ) and is therefore part of the subfamily of the Psammophiinae , which supports and corroborates the hypothesis that Madagascar has been colonized several times by snakes similar to snakes.
literature
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Henkel, Wolfgang Schmidt (ed.): Amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar, the Mascarene, Seychelles and Comoros. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 1995, ISBN 3-8001-7323-9 .
- Gennaro Aprea, Gaetano Odierna, Franco Andreone, Frank Glaw, Miguel Vences: Unusual karyotype in the Malagasy colubrid snake Mimophis mahfalensis. In: Amphibia-Reptilia. 24, 2003, pp. 215-219 ( full text, PDF file ).
- Zoltán Tamás Nagy, Ulrich Joger, Michael Wink, Frank Glaw , Miguel Vences : Multiple colonization of Madagascar and Socotra by colubrid snakes: evidence from nuclear and mitochondrial gene hylogenies. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society London. B 270, 2003, pp. 2613-2621 ( full text, PDF file ).
Web links
- Mimophis mahfalensis in The Reptile Database
- Mimophis mahfalensis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Vences, M., 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2013.