What kind of vipers are there

Some snakes also contain neurotoxins that impact the nervous system, but these are rare among vipers. Terrifying as it may sound, vipers need their venom to hunt, and are not keen on wasting it on creatures they cannot consume, like humans. This is why many human bites are dry, or have scant venom in them. Despite that, any snake bite should be handled with extreme care. Beyond their venom, many species of vipers are viviparous, meaning that offspring are birthed live and not born from eggs, like most reptiles.

This reproductive quirk is what gives this family of snakes their name. Vipers are largely divided into two categories: Old World vipers and pit vipers. This is a fine specimen of a Malabar pit viper, lazing on a decomposing tree trunk in the thick, lush forests of the Western Ghats, in Yana, Karnataka.

Photo: Nirmal Kulkarni. Though scientists are yet to understand the full working of this organ, we do know that they are heat-sensitive organs that allow the snake to detect warm-blooded animals, which enables hunting after dark.

Photo: Pradeep Hegde. Malabar pit vipers are known to occur in many colour morphs. Green, brown, and a mix of green and brown are common, though yellow, orange, blue, even pink snakes have been photographed. This yellow viper was seen near Sirsi, Karnataka. Some tropical vipers can grow to be more 3 meters long, but most are a meter or so in length. The most common vipers in the United States are rattlesnakes, which have modified scales at the end of their tails that they can buzz or rattle to warn predators away.

Rattlesnakes are only found in the Western Hemisphere. Other kinds of vipers occur on all continents except Australia, and vipers survive in colder climates than any other snakes. According to the ADW, the function of the eyelashes is unknown. They can shield the vipers' eyes as they move through dense vegetation, according to some scientists.

The intensity of a viper bite is determined by the species and whether the bite was wet or dry, with no venom. According to Savitzky, European vipers adders have mild venom that is not especially lethal, whereas Gaboon vipers, which are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, have extremely potent venom.

Vipers have enzymatic venom that affects a wide variety of tissues. It induces extreme swelling, discomfort, and necrosis, or the death and decay of cells. It also has anticoagulant properties. A sudden decrease in blood pressure normally results in death. Both viper bites should be handled with caution and medical attention. According to Sfetcu, viper venom helps vipers digest their food in addition to killing prey and damaging predators.

Since vipers consume their prey whole, digesting it is a daunting task rendered more difficult by their digestive systems' inefficiency. During digestion, the venom breaks down lipids, acids, and proteins in the prey. The viper snake is classified into four subfamilies: Azemiopinae, Causinae, Crotalinae, and Viperinae.

Azemiopinae, also known as the Fea's Viper or mountain viper, is a viper subfamily with only one genus and two species: Azemiops feae and Azemiops kharini. The appearance of these vipers is distinct from that of other vipers. Their head is elliptical in shape, with expanded scales. This genus is so distinct from the other viper snake species in appearance that it was historically classified as belonging to two separate snake families — the elapid and colubrid families. Its nearest relatives are the crotaline vipers, also known as pit vipers.

It can be found in south-central China, northern Burma, and northern Vietnam's tropical mountain regions. These snakes, also known as night adders, can reach lengths of 24 to 36 inches 60 — 90 cm. Night adders are oviparous, which means they lay eggs, unlike most viper snakes. The snakes lay 24 eggs at a time, which hatch four months later.

While these snakes have large venom glands, they do not often inject venom into their prey while hunting. When a person is bitten by one of these snakes, the venom does not spread across the body but induces localized swelling at the bite site. A bite from a night adder has never resulted in human death. Cottonmouth snakes, copperhead snakes, and rattlesnakes are all part of the Crotalinae family of snakes, also known as pit vipers. This subfamily includes over species that can be found mostly in North and South America, as well as parts of East and Central Asia.

This is the only viper snake subfamily present in the Americas. Pit vipers have a heat-sensing pit organ on either side of the head, which is situated between the eye and the nostril. Many people fear these snakes, but they seldom threaten humans and are a vital part of the food chain, consuming agricultural pests like rabbits, mice, and rats. Some species of pit vipers include rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, copperheads, lanceheads and bushmasters.

Several types of snakes are referred to as green vipers due to their coloring. They include the Chinese green viper Trimeresurus stejnegeri , the green night adder Causus resimus , the Great Lakes bush viper Atheris nitschei and the newly discovered ruby-eyed green pit viper Cryptelytrops rubeus.

These are all Old World snakes, found in Africa and Asia. Probably the most famous of the green vipers is Trimeresurus albolabris , also called green pit viper or white-lipped viper. These vibrant vipers are a bright Kelly green and have vivid yellow eyes. Their jaws are white or yellow, presumably giving rise to their white-lipped name. Males have a narrow white stripe running down the sides of their bodies.

Several types of snakes are referred to as horned vipers due to the presence of horn-shaped scales on their faces. They include the Saharan horned viper or desert horned viper Cerastes cerastes , the Arabian horned viper or Middle Eastern horned viper Cerastes gasperettii , the horned puff adder Bitis caudalis and the nose-horned viper Vipera ammodytes , which has a horn at the top of its nose.

The other species have a horn over each eye. All horned vipers live in Africa and the Middle East but the nose-horned viper, which are found in Europe and Asia. A new species, named Matilda's horned viper Atheris matildae was discovered in Tanzania in The horns are made of single or multiple scales , depending on the species, according to the ADW. Not all horned vipers have horns; sometimes the same clutch of eggs will yield animals with and without horns.

The horns can bend back to be flat against the head, which is useful when the snake is going down a burrow. The purpose of horns is uncertain. Some scientists speculate that horns break up the outline of the animal, making it more difficult for predators to see.

Others speculate that the horns may help protect the snake's eyes from sand in some way. This would explain why snakes with horns over their eyes are found in deserts. Called both the eyelash pit viper and eyelash palm pit viper , these small snakes are found in Central America and northern South America. They are named for the bristly scales above their eyes, which resemble eyelashes or hoods.

They are also distinguishable by their bright coloration and appear in vibrant yellows or greens the most common coloration , pinks, purples, silver, dark gray or brown, according to the ADW.

Their coloring is camouflage and allows them to blend in with banana bunches or flowers.