Mambas
| Mambas | ||||||||||||
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Green mamba ( Dendroaspis viridis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dendroaspis | ||||||||||||
| Schlegel , 1848 | ||||||||||||
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Mambas are fast, tree-climbing venomous snakes. The scientific name Dendroaspis (also: Dendraspis ) literally means "tree snake".
Occurrence
Mambas are found exclusively in Africa . There they lead a hidden existence. They live in abandoned earthworks and stone mounds as well as on trees.
nutrition
During the day they mainly hunt small mammals , birds , tree frogs and lizards .
Poisonous effect
Mambas tend to bite down several times after taking a bite. Their highly effective poison mainly contains various neurotoxins and their own dendrotoxins .
A bite usually ends fatally in humans without treatment with an antiserum , with the common mamba ( Dendroaspis angusticeps ), however, only one bite resulting in death in one child has so far been detected. The poison effect is absolutely life-threatening, if the bite hits a vein , then there are only a few minutes for life-sustaining therapy.
species
The black mamba ( Dendroaspis polylepis ), which got its name because of its dark, almost black oral cavity, is the largest venomous snake in Africa with a length of over 4 m. Although it hunts in a fixed area around its nest, it is also one of the fastest species of snake in the world at speeds of up to 20 km / h. Usually the Black Mamba takes flight when danger threatens. However, when threatened, it can also become very aggressive very quickly. When bitten , the snake emits around 100 milligrams of its deadly venom - that is roughly ten times the lethal dose for adults ( LD : 10–15 mg). The victim suffocates because the breathing muscles are paralyzed by the poison .
The green mamba ( Dendroaspis viridis ) is also highly poisonous, but less poisonous than the black mamba .
literature
- Ludwig Trutnau: poisonous snakes. Vol. 2, Ulmer-Verlag Stuttgart, 1981, ISBN 3-8001-7371-9 .
- Mark O'Shea: Venomous Snakes - All species in the world in their habitats. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-440-10619-5 .
