Dendroaspis Angusticeps Venom (Eastern Green Mamba Venom)

Description

Dendroaspis Angusticeps Venom | Eastern Green Mamba Venom:

Dendroaspis Angusticeps Venom | Eastern Green Mamba Venom is extracted from a snake called Dendroaspis Angusticeps.

More details about Dendroaspis Angusticeps Venom | Eastern Green Mamba Venom:

Venom consists of both neurotoxins and cardiotoxins.

Taxonomic Classification:

About Dendroaspis Angusticeps Snake:

The eastern green mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps) is a highly venomous snake species of the mamba genus Dendroaspis native to the coastal regions of southern East Africa.

Described by Scottish surgeon and zoologist Andrew Smith in 1849, it has a slender build with a bright green back and green-yellow ventral scales.

Adult females average around 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in length, and males are slightly smaller.

A shy and elusive species, the eastern green mamba is rarely seen.

This elusiveness is usually attributed to its arboreal habitat and green colouration, which acts as camouflage in its natural environment.

It has also been observed to use ambush predation, like many vipers, contrary to the active foraging style typical of other elapid snakes.

It preys on birds, eggs, bats, and rodents such as mice, rats, and gerbils.

Taxonomy:

The eastern green mamba was first described as Naja angusticeps by Andrew Smith, a Scottish surgeon and zoologist, in 1849, who reported it from Natal and east to Maputo Bay.

The specific name angusticeps is derived from the Latin word angustus, “narrow”, and ceps, an abbreviated form of caput (“head”) when used in a compound word.

The German-British zoologist Albert Günther described Dendroaspis intermedius from the Zambezi River in northern Mozambique in 1865.

This was subsequently synonymised with D. angusticeps.

Description:

The eastern green mamba is a large snake, with a slightly compressed and very slender body with a medium to long tapering tail.

Adult males average around 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) in total length, while females average 2.0 metres (6 ft 7 in).

This species rarely exceeds lengths of 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in). In general, the total length is 4–4.3 times the length of the tail.

The adult eastern green mamba has bright green upperparts—occasionally with isolated yellow scales—and a pale yellow-green belly.

Sometimes they are duller-coloured before moulting. Juveniles are blue-green, becoming bright green when they are around 75 centimetres (2 ft 6 in) long.

The coffin-shaped head is long and slender, with a prominent canthus which is slightly demarcated from the neck.

Scalation:

The number and pattern of scales on a snake’s body are a key element of identification to species level.

The eastern green mamba has between 17 and 21 rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 201 to 232 ventral scales, 99 to 126 divided subcaudal scales, and a divided anal scale.

Its mouth is lined with 7–9 supralabial scales above, the fourth one located under the eye, and 9–11 sublabial scales below. Its eyes have three preocular and 3–5 postocular scales.

Distribution and habitat:

The eastern green mamba is native to regions near the coastlines of Southern Africa and East Africa.

Its range extends from Kenya south through Tanzania, Malawi, and eastern Zimbabwe; it can also be found in Zanzibar and northern Mozambique.

An isolated and genetically distinct population is found in South Africa from the extreme northeastern part of Eastern Cape along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline and into southern Mozambique.