Macrovipera mauritanica
Atlas Otter ( Daboia mauritanica )
The Atlas Otter ( Daboia mauritanica; Syn Macrovipera mauritanica ) is a type of Oriental vipers ( Daboia ) within the vipers ( Viperidae ). It is spread over other parts of North Africa and is found in Morocco, Tunisia, and western Libya.
Features
The Atlas otter is a large species of vipers and reached an average length of about 100 to 150 cm, with single individuals even be longer. Representatives of the subspecies M. m. deserti on the southern side of the Atlas Mountains in the northern Sahara remain long usually less than one meter. The basic color is light gray to reddish -gray with a marking on the back of a rounded wave band, which can be resolved into individual spots. In the subspecies M. m. deserti, the strip of rectangular or lozenge-shaped single spots. The body pages often contain dark bars stains. Melanic individuals are not known. The belly is gray with a black speckles. About the eyes a dark temple strap pulls up to the mouth, a second band extends vertically from the eyes to the mouth opening.
The very broad and triangular head is clearly separated from the strong body. The eyes have vertical pupils. The head shields are completely dissolved into small scales. Below the eyes are two to three rows of Under Eye shields ( Supraocularia ). The body scales are keeled. Around the middle of the body are 27 scale rows. The under tail- shields ( Subcaudalia ) are divided as in all species of the genus.
Distribution and habitat
The Atlas otter is distributed north and south of the Atlas Mountains on other parts of North Africa and is found in Morocco, Tunisia, and western Libya. As habitat it prefers sunny and interspersed with boulders and vegetation mountain slopes at altitudes up to 2,000 meters.
Way of life
The Atlas otter is mainly crepuscular and nocturnal and is a pure ground snake. During the day it is in rock crevices or under stones. It feeds mainly on small mammals such as mice and rats, and lizards and birds, it kills by a poison bite. The young snakes feed on small lizards.
The snake is oviparous ( oviparous ), the young snakes hatch after six to eight weeks.
System
→ Main article: Oriental vipers # systematics
The Atlas Otter was a long time in the genre of Real vipers (Vipera ) filed, together with most other European vipers. In 1992, a revision of the genus Vipera, in which the Atlas Otter was filed on the basis of biochemical characteristics together with three other species in the genus of large vipers ( Macrovipera ), at the same time put the chain Viper is the only species of the genus Daboia dar.
By steering et al. 2001, this compilation was however challenged. Based on molecular biology, the assignment of African Macrovipera and the Palestine viper genus Daboia was proposed. This view is confirmed by Garrigues et al. 2004: As with steering et al. 2001 is the genus of the United vipers in the current compilation paraphyletic, the Chain Viper ( Daboia russeli ) is a taxon with the Palestine viper and the former big African viper species. Mallow et al. 2003 arranged according to a Palestinian Otter in the genus, which has been Atlas Otter 2008 by Wüster et al. based on the results of Lenk, et al. asked to Daboia.
Endangering
The Atlas otter is listed in the IUCN Red List due to their declining stocks as a kind of early warning ( " near threatened ").
Snake venom
The poison of the Atlas Otter is like that of all types Viper hemotoxic, medical treatment with an adequate antivenin is necessary.
Swell
Cited sources
The information in this article originate for the most part the limits given in literature sources, in addition, the following sources are cited: