Crotalus basiliscus

Basilisk Rattlesnake ( Crotalus basiliscus )

The basilisk rattlesnake (Crotalus basiliscus ) is a species of the genus rattlesnakes (Crotalus ), which is distributed only on the west coast of Mexico.

Features

The basilisk rattlesnake is up to two meters long, rarely more than two meters. The basic color of the snake is yellowish - brown, olive - green, maroon, or brown. On the back it has several diamond-shaped drawings, but mostly only slightly from that of the base color. Outlined are the diamonds of lighter scales, with the outline, especially in the tail area you may also be incomplete. The head is usually pale with a darker drawing the eye to the back of the mouth opening. Like almost all the rattlesnakes she has a flashy tail rattle.

Distribution and habitat

The basilisk rattlesnake lives only on the west coast of Mexico in a narrow distribution area of Sonora to Michoacán, which extends about 200 km into the country of Mexico. As a preferred habitat, the snake, the thorn steppes of the Mexican coast with sparse forest and pine - oak forests at higher elevations.

Snake venom

Little is known about the specific effect of the venom of this snake, it is believed that the other rattlesnakes, especially the closely related Black-tailed Rattlesnake ( Crotalus molossus ) is similar. As a relatively large species it emits large amounts of poison with appropriate efficacy.