European horned viper

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European horned viper
European horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)

European horned viper ( Vipera ammodytes )

Systematics
Subordination : Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily : Adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea)
Family : Vipers (Viperidae)
Subfamily : Real vipers (Viperinae)
Genre : Real otters ( Vipera )
Type : European horned viper
Scientific name
Vipera ammodytes
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The horned viper ( Vipera ammodytes ), also Sandviper , horned viper , sand viper or European sand Otter called, is a kind from the family of vipers .

description

size

With a length of up to 95 centimeters, this strongly built viper is a relatively large snake by European standards ; longer lengths are not secured. Most animals are between 70 and 80 centimeters in length, with males generally becoming larger than females. However, the individuals of some populations sometimes remain significantly smaller. For example, European horned otters on the Aegean Islands often only reach a body length of forty to fifty centimeters.

coloring

The color varies greatly; Most of the animals are gray, yellowish, or red-brown with a darker zigzag or diamond band on the back, the color of which also varies from light brown to black. Males are usually a little lighter in color than females and have more pronounced head and body markings. The underside of the tail is often yellowish, reddish or greenish in color in both sexes. Occasionally completely black ( melanistic ) animals appear similar to the aspic viper and adder .

European horned viper head ( Vipera ammodytes )

Other features

The triangular head is clearly separated from the trunk. On the top of the head there are many small scales without large shields.

It is named after the conspicuous horn on the snout, which is covered all around with small scales. As with most viper species, there are strong ridges above the eyes, which give them a look that people perceive as "threatening". The pupils are vertically slit-shaped.

The European horned otters have about 21 to 23 keeled back scales around the middle of their bodies. The tail is relatively short, the anus is undivided.

Karyotype

Together with that of the aspis viper , the karyotype of the European horned viper is unique among European vipers. There are clear differences both in the number of chromosomes and in their shape. These two species have a total of 21 chromosome pairs (2n = 42), 11 of which are very large (macrochromosomes). For comparison: the adder and most other species have only 18 pairs of chromosomes with only 8 sets of macrochromosomes. The sex chromosomes are of different sizes. The males have a pair of metacentric chromosomes of the same size, whereas in the females the second sex chromosome is only half the size of the former, so heterogamy occurs here in the females.

distribution and habitat

Distribution areas (red-brown) of the European horned viper. The Asiatic occurrences refer to Vipera ammodytes transcaucasiana , which is mostly regarded as a separate species.

The distribution area includes northeast Italy , southern Austria via Slovenia , Croatia , Serbia , Kosovo , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Montenegro , North Macedonia , Romania , Bulgaria , Albania and Asia Minor to the Caucasus region . It can be found almost everywhere on the Greek mainland. In Austria it occurs as a sub-Mediterranean fauna element only in Carinthia and southern Styria up to around 800 meters above sea level. A single find from East Tyrol has recently become known.

She lives in dry, stony bushland and sparse forests. It is particularly common on dry, sunny rocky slopes and on stone walls. Their habitat also includes light deciduous forests with sunny clearings, overgrown gardens and bushy scree areas. Contrary to what its occasionally used common name sand otter suggests, it occurs only very rarely on sandy surfaces.

Subspecies

Six subspecies are described by some authors within the large distribution area. As with many other species, this division is not without controversy. A distinction is currently made:

  • V. a. ammodytes - The nominate form occurs in the northern, central and eastern parts of the Balkans.
  • V. a. meridionalis - southern Balkan region
  • V. a. montandoni - South-eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula

The following subspecies are no longer recognized. They were put in the nominated form:

  • V. a. gregorwallneri : from the northwestern Balkans to southern Austria (Carinthia and Styria)
  • V. a. illyrica northwestern Balkans
  • V. a. ruffoi Northern Italian Alps , especially in South Tyrol .

Reproduction

Dark colored European horned viper

Like all European vipers, the horned viper is ovoviviparous ; in spring up to 20 young snakes are born alive. These initially feed on grasshoppers and small lizards.

Way of life

nutrition

The European horned viper usually catches prey in the late afternoon and at dusk. The diet consists mainly of small mammals (e.g. mice ), less often of nest-young ground-breeding birds and lizards as well as crickets and grasshoppers . During her forays she occasionally climbs between the rocks and in the bushes. She kills her prey with a poison bite.

Occasionally, an interesting behavior called " caudal luring " is observed . The vipers wind their brightly colored tail tip, often even vertically upright, in slow movements. By imitating a worm or an insect larva (caterpillar) in this way, the snake lures the prey within its reach.

Activity and winter rest

It is generally considered to be active during the day and at dusk. During the day she can often be seen basking in the sun near her hiding place. Horn vipers can soar into bushes and branches in late summer to hunt birds. This snake is relatively sluggish and is not considered to be aggressive; it relies on its camouflage and always tries to flee when threatened. Only when she feels cornered does she hiss loudly and bite.

Depending on their origin, horned otters hibernate for up to six months , where they gather in large numbers at suitable wintering spots in rock crevices several meters deep. 1100 specimens have already been found sociable in such a place. If the temperatures persist around freezing point, the animals die in their winter quarters.

Toxicity

Among the European vipers, the European horned viper has one of the most powerful poisons . It consists on the one hand of tissue-destroying substances that lead to necrosis (local tissue death), on the other hand of nerve toxins that can cause paralysis. Deaths after viper bites occur mainly in children or debilitated people. The fangs are up to 1 cm long. The bite is not painful and usually bleeds.

It can often lead to profuse bleeding in the subcutaneous tissues and internal organs. In addition, there are palpitations, headaches, weakness and dizziness, vomiting and abdominal colic , not infrequently also circulatory collapse. With timely injection of an antiserum, the symptoms will soon subside.

From data published in 1915, a mortality rate of 5.1% (40 of 780) results for untreated or, from today's perspective, improperly treated horned viper bites.

Hazard and protection

Hazards for the horned viper populations are mainly caused by impairment of the habitats, for example by the encroachment or afforestation of sunny spots or by management or construction measures.

Legal protection status

Like all European snake species, the European horned viper is included in Appendix II of the Bern Convention ( Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Their Natural Habitats ) and thus enjoys strict protection within the European Union . The animals may neither be killed nor caught, keepers of this type of snake must present appropriate certificates of origin and breeding.

Red list classifications

  • Red List of Austria: CR (corresponds to: critically endangered)
    • Red list of the federal state of Carinthia: 2 - highly endangered
    • Red list federal state Styria: 1 - critically endangered
  • Red List Federal Republic of Germany: (this species does not appear here)
  • Red list of Switzerland: (this species does not occur here autochthonously )

Individual evidence

  1. U. Heckes, H.-J. Gruber, N. Stümpel: Vipera (Vipera) ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) - horned viper, sand viper. In: U. Joger, N. Stümpel: Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians in Europe. Snakes (Serpentes) III. Aula-Verlag, Wiebelsheim 2005, pp. 81–150.
  2. Axel Kwet: European Reptile and Amphibian Guide . New Holland, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84773-444-0 .
  3. Vipera ammodytes in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2012. Posted by: Aram Agasyan, Aziz Avci, Boris Tuniyev, Jelka Crnobrnja Isailovic, Petros Lymberakis, Claes Andrén, Dan Cogalniceanu, John Wilkinson, Natalia Ananjeva, Nazai Orlov, Nikolai Orlov, Nikolai Orlov Richard Podloucky , Sako Tuniyev, Uğur Kaya, Roberto Sindaco, Wolfgang Böhme, Petros Lymberakis, Rastko Ajtic, Varol Tok, Ismail H. Ugurtas, Murat Sevinç, Ljiljana Tomović, Pierre-André Crochet, Idriz Haxhiu, Ulrich Joger, Bogoljub Sterijovski, Göran Nilson, Dušan Jelić, 2009.
  4. Hans-Jürgen Biella: The sand otters. (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Volume 558). Wittenberg Lutherstadt 1983, p. 72.
  5. Appendix II of the Bern Convention

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Biella: The sand otters. (= The new Brehm library. Volume 558). Westarp, Magdeburg 1995, ISBN 3-89432-153-9 .
  • U. Gruber: The snakes of Europe. Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-440-05753-4 , pp. 205-207.
  • U. Heckes, H.-J Gruber, N. Stümpel: Vipera (Vipera) ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) - horned viper, sand viper. In: U. Joger, N. Stümpel: Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians in Europe. Snakes (Serpentes) III. Aula-Verlag, Wiebelsheim 2005, ISBN 3-89104-617-0 , pp. 81-150.
  • Benny Trapp: Amphibians and reptiles of the Greek mainland. Natur und Tier-Verlag, Münster 2007, ISBN 3-86659-022-9 , pp. 258-263.

Web links

Commons : European horned viper ( Vipera ammodytes )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files