#atractaspididae

[herpsandbirds]

Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis bibronii), family Atractaspididae, Namibia

Venomous.

Previously referred to as Bibron’s Mole Viper or Bibron’s Burrowing Asp.

This species is capable of easily sticking its fangs out the sides of its mouth.

photographs by Francois Theart

[typhlonectes]

Newly Discovered:

A new stiletto snake (Lamprophiidae, Atractaspidinae, Atractaspis) from Liberia and Guinea, West Africa 

Mark-Oliver Rödel, Christoph Kucharzewski, Kristin Mahlow, Laurent Chirio, Olivier Pauwels, Piero Carlino, Gordon Sambolah, Julian Glos

We describe a new stiletto snake, Atractaspis, from western Liberia and southeastern Guinea. 

The stiletto snakes or burrowing asps, genus Atractaspis Smith, 1849, currently comprise 22 (Wallach et al. 2014), or 21 (Uetz et al. 2018) valid species. Most species are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa where they occur in a wide range of habitats from semi-deserts to rainforests (Spawls and Branch 1995); only two occur in the Middle East and Arabia (Wallach et al. 2014; Grossmann et al. 2018). These fossorial and venomous snakes are famous for their unique skull anatomy and venom delivery system, enabling them to use a single fang to bite, with closed mouth, in a lateral stabbing movement (Broadley 1990; Greene 1997; Cundall and Irish 2008; McDowell 2008). Various herpetologists have already been suffering from this behavior, making it impossible to hold the snakes in the usual way behind the head without being bitten (see Wagner et al. 2009). Their systematic position was matter of a constant debate and the snakes have been placed for instance within Viperidae, within Aparallactinae as subfamily of Colubridae, as a separate family Atractaspididae, and most recently as a subfamily Atractaspidinae within the Lamprophiidae (Broadley 1990; Vidal et al. 2007; Wallach et al. 2014; Uetz et al. 2018; Portillo et al. 2018)...

Read more: https://zse.pensoft.net/article/31488/

[herpsandbirds]

Black-headed Centipede-Eater (Aparallactus capensis) EAT A TASTY CENTIPEDE!!!, family Atractaspididae, South Africa

Venomous.

Photograph by Johan Marais

aka Cape Centipede-Eater, South Africa

photograph by suncana

[herpsandbirds]

Spotted Harlequin Snake (Homoroselaps lacteus), yellow striped “Grassland Form”, family Atractaspididae, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa

Venomous.

photograph by Dylan Leonard 

[herpsandbirds]

Spotted Harlequin Snake (Homoroselaps lacteus), "Grassland Form" family Atractaspididae, South Africa

Venomous.

photograph by Johan Marais

[herpsandbirds]

Spotted Harlequin Snake (Homoroselaps lacteus), family Atractaspididae, South Africa

Venomous.

photograph by Tyrone James Ping

[herpsandbirds]

Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis bibronii), family Atractaspididae, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Venomous.

Previously referred to as Bibron’s Mole Viper or Bibron’s Burrowing Asp.

This species is capable of easily sticking its fangs out the sides of its mouth.

photograph by Teddy Gilbert

[herpsandbirds]

Spotted Harlequin Snake (Homoroselaps lacteus), family Atractaspididae, Elandsbaai, South Africa.

Venomous - not dangerous

Photograph by Tyrone Ping

[herpsandbirds]

Reticulated Centipede Eater (Aparallactus lunulatus), family Atractaspididae, Soutpansberg, South Africa

Rear-fanged, mildly venomous.

photograph by Herp Nomad

[herpsandbirds]

Spotted Harlequin Snake (Homoroselaps lacteus), family Atractaspididae, Cape Town, South Africa

Venomous.

photograph by Tyrone James Ping

[herpsandbirds]

Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis bibronii), family Atractaspididae, Limpopo, South Africa

Venomous.

Previously referred to as Bibron's Mole Viper or Bibron's Burrowing Asp.

This species is capable of easily sticking its fangs out the sides of its mouth.

photograph by Tyrone Ping - Herpetofauna of Southern Africa

[herpsandbirds]

Trick or treat, smell my beak, give me tasty bug to eat!

Sincerely,

Totally NOT a bird

YOU LIKE A TASTY CENTIPEDES?!?!

Mediterranean Banded Centipede (Scolopendra cingulata), family Scolopendridae, Lebanon

Mildly venomous.

This species grows to a max length of up to 15 cm (5.9 in).

photograph by Rami Khashab

Ussuri Pit Viper (Gloydius ussuriensis), family Viperidae, and a Chinese Red-headed Centipede (Scolopendra mutilans), family Scolopendridae, have a chance meeting on a mud flat on Jeju Island, South Korea

Venomous (both).

photograph by lhurteau

Black-headed Centipede-Eater (Aparallactus capensis) EAT A TASTY CENTIPEDE!!!, family Atractaspididae, South Africa

Venomous.

Photograph by Johan Marais

Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus), EAT A TASTY CENTIPEDE!!!, Viperidae, India

Venomous. 

Photograph by Vivek Sharma

[herpsandbirds]

Hey, what are the best-named snakes? Also, this blog is incredible

Best Named Snakes:

Ok, so using different criteria for different names, here are some of the best off the top of my head...

Clouded Snail Sucker (Sibon nebulatus), family Colubridae, Chiapas, Mexico

photograph by Cristian Torica

Terrestrial Snail Sucker (Tropidodipsas sartorii), family Colubridae, Guatemala

Coral snake mimic (specifically, mimics Micrurus elegans).

photograph by Cristian Torica

Bandy-Bandy (Vermicella annulata), givin’ em the old razzle dazzle, family Elapidae, found throughout eastern and northern Australia

Venomous.

photograph by @nicvlattas

Black-headed Centipede-Eater (Aparallactus capensis) EAT A TASTY CENTIPEDE!!!, family Atractaspididae, South Africa

Venomous.

Photograph by Johan Marais

Sunbeam Snake (Xenopeltis unicolor), family Xenopeltidae, Thailand

photograph by Parinya Herp Pawangkhanant

DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY GREAT SNAKE NAMES THEY'D LIKE TO ADD?

[herpsandbirds]

Spotted Harlequin Snake (Homoroselaps lacteus), family Atractaspididae, Western Cape, South Africa.

Venomous - not dangerous

Photograph by Chad Keates 

[herpsandbirds]

Bibron's Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis bibronii), family Atractaspididae, from Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa

Venomous.

photograph by Johan Marais.