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Atheris squamigera
Atheris squamigera is a venomous viper species found in west and central Africa. No subspecies are currently recognized.[6] Additional recommended knowledge
DescriptionGrows to an average length of 46-60 cm, with a maximum of at least 78 cm. Females are usually larger than males.[2] The head is broad and flat, distinct from the neck. The mouth has a very large gape. The head is thickly covered with keeled, imbricate scales. The rostral scale is not visible from above. A very small scale just above the rostral is flanked by very large scales on either side. The nostrils are lateral. The eye and the nasal are separated by 2 scales. Across the top of the head, there are 7-9 interorbital scales. There are 10-18 circumorbital scales. There are 2 (rarely 1 or more than 2) rows of scales that separate the eyes from the labials. There are 9-12 supralabials and 9-12 sublabials. Of the latter, the anterior 2 or 3 touch the chin shields. The gular scales are keeled.[2] Midbody there are 15-23 rows of dorsal scales, 11-17 posteriorly. There are 152-175 ventral scales and 45-67 undivided subcaudals. It is possible that there is a variation in morphometric characters related to habitat:[2]
Neonates have a dark, olive coloration with wavy bars, paler olive or yellowish olive with fine dark olive margins, bars at 5 mm intervals, and a belly that is paler greenish olive. The adult color-pattern develops within 3 to 4 months.[2] Common namesGreen bush viper,[2][3] variable bush viper,[4][5] leaf viper, common bush viper,[5] bush viper,[7] tree viper.[8] Geographic rangeWest and central Africa: Ivory Coast and Ghana, eastward through southern Nigeria to Cameroon, southern Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, DR Congo, northern Angola, Uganda, Tanzania (Rumanika Game Reserve), western Kenya and Bioko Island. The type locality is given as "Near the Gabon River, Guinea" [Gabon].[1] HabitatFound mostly in rainforest. Said to prefer relatively low and thick, flowering bushes.[3] CaptivityThe require a very high level of humidity to breed. In one case, males and females were kept separate from January to the end of November. Two females became pregnant, even though only one mating was observed. Each produced eight young: a few were yellow, but most were green. In each brood, there was also one stillborne green specimen. Some of the neonates fed readily on frogs, while the others had to be force-fed pinkie mice. All fed independently after a few months.[2] VenomBites from this particular species have resulted in at least one report of severe hematological complications[9] as well as two deaths.[10] TaxonomyA number of subspecies may be encountered in literature. These include:[2][1][3]
Furthermore, specimens from Dimonika and Menengue in Congo are sometimes treated as a separate species: A. laeviceps. It has been distinguished as having a group of small scales on top of the head, a row of scales that separates the suboculars and the upper labials, as well as a yellow coloration.[3] See also
References
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Atheris_squamigera". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |