Acanthophis
Acanthophis antarcticus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Elapidae Genus: Acanthophis
Species
Acanthophis antarcticus Acanthophis praelongus Acanthophis pyrrhus Acanthophis hawkei Acanthophis wellsei Acanthophis rugosus Acanthophis laevis

Acanthophis is a genus of highly venomous elapid snakes. Commonly called death adders, they are native to Australia and nearby islands, and are among the most venomous snakes in the world. The name of the genus derives from the Ancient Greek acanthos/ἄκανθος "spine" and ophis/ὄφις "snake", referring to the spine on the Death adder's tail. Image File history File links Acanthophis_antarcticus. ... Binomial name Acanthophis antarcticus The Common Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus), is a species of Death Adder native to Australia and is one of the most poisonous land snakes in Australia and the world. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Reptilia redirects here. ... Suborders Lacertilia- Lizards Serpentes - Snakes Amphisbaenia - Worm lizards This article is about the Squamata order of reptiles. ... Families Acrochordidae Aniliidae Anomalepididae Anomochilidae Atractaspididae Boidae Bolyeriidae Colubridae Cylindrophiidae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Leptotyphlopidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Typhlopidae Uropeltidae Viperidae Xenopeltidae Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. ... The Elapidae, or elapids, are a family of highly venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. ... Binomial name Acanthophis antarcticus The Common Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus), is a species of Death Adder native to Australia and is one of the most poisonous land snakes in Australia and the world. ... Binomial name Image depicting the range of the Desert Death Adder (in red) The Desert Death Adder (Acanthophis pyrrhus), is a species of Death Adder native to Australia and is one of the most venomous land snakes in Australia and the world. ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... A venomous snake is a snake that uses modified saliva, venom, delivered through fangs in its mouth, to immobilize or kill its prey. ... The Elapidae, or elapids, are a family of highly venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. ...

Seven species are listed by ITIS, though it remains unclear how many species this genus includes, with figures ranging from 4 to 15 species being quoted (see Taxonomy). The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is a partnership designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... Species Acanthophis antarcticus Acanthophis praelongus Acanthophis pyrrhus Acanthophis hawkei Acanthophis wellsei Acanthophis rugosus Acanthophis laevis Acanthophis is a genus of highly venomous elapid snakes. ...

Description

Death adders are very viper-like in appearance, having a short, robust body, triangular shaped heads and small subocular scales. They also have vertical pupils and many small scales on the top of the head. Their fangs are also longer and more mobile than for most other elapids, although still far from the size seen in some of the true vipers. Despite their name and appearance, they are not vipers at all. This is a case of convergent evolution. Synonyms Viperae - Laurenti, 1768 Viperini - Oppel, 1811 Viperidae - Gray, 1825[1] The Viperidae are a family of venomous snakes commonly referred to as vipers, although the term viperids is more specific and distinguishes them from the viperines (subfamily Viperinae). ... A triangle. ... For other uses of the word head, see head (disambiguation). ... In this SEM image of a butterfly wing the scales are clearly visible, and the tiny platelets on each individual scale are just barely visible in the striping. ... The human eye The pupil is the central transparent area (showing as black). ... In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related, independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches. ...

It normally takes 2 – 3 years to reach adult size. Females are generally slightly larger than the males. They can also be easily distinguished from other Australian snakes because of a small, worm like lure on the end of their tail, which is used to attract prey. Most have large bands around their bodies, though the color itself is variable, depending on their locality. Colors are usually black, grey or red and yellow, but also include brown and greenish-grey. A year (from Old English gÄ“r) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ...

Hunting

Unlike most snakes, Death adders do not actively hunt, but rather lie in ambush and draw their prey to them.

When hungry, Death adders bury themselves amongst the substrate. This may be leaf litter, soil or sand, depending on their environment. The only part of themselves they expose are their head and their tail, both generally very well camouflaged. On the end of the tail is a caudral lure which is placed in front of their head, and when shaken/wiggled very quickly is easily mistaken for a grub or worm. An unsuspecting bird or mammal will eventually notice the 'easy lunch' and attempt to seize it. Only then will the Death adder move, lashing out with the quickest strike of any snake in the world. A Death adder can go from a strike position, to strike and envenoming their prey, and back to strike position again, in as little as 0.13 of a second, literally in the blink of an eye. Lure can refer to: fishing lure Lure, a commune of the Haute-Saône département, in France This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Venom

Death adders inject on average 40 – 100 mg of extremely toxic venom (0.4 – 0.5 mg/kg murine LD50, subcutaneous) with a bite. This makes an untreated death adder bite one of the most dangerous in the world (rated in top 10 in the CSL list). Toxic redirects here, but this is also the name of a song by Britney Spears; see Toxic (song) Look up toxic and toxicity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... An LD50 test being administered In toxicology, the LD50 or colloquially semilethal dose of a particular substance is a measure of how much constitutes a lethal dose. ...

Death adder venom is completely neurotoxic, containing neither haemotoxins or myotoxins, unlike most venomous snakes. A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells – neurons – usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. ... Hemotoxins, haemotoxins or hematotoxins are toxins that destroy red blood cells (that is, cause hemolysis), disrupt blood clotting, and/or cause organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage. ...

Humans and bites

A bite from a death adder causes paralysis. While this paralysis is very minor at first, it can cause death from a complete respiratory shutdown in as little as six hours. Symptoms peak in 24 – 48 hours. Paralysed redirects here. ... In animal physiology, respiration is the transport of oxygen from the ambient air to the tissue cells and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. ...

Symptoms of envenomation can be reversed through the use of death adder antivenom, or using anticholinesterases, which break the synaptic blockade by making acetylcholine more available to the parasympathetic nervous system, thus flushing out the venom. This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... Antivenom (or antivenin, or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. ... A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies, troops, information or aid from reaching an opposing force. ... The chemical compound acetylcholine, often abbreviated as ACh, was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. ...

Before antivenom was introduced, 50% of death adder bites were fatal. Now, with the antivenom, and due to the slow progression of envenomation symptoms, fatalities from death adder bites are very rare in Australia. In New Guinea, deaths from these snakes are still common. For other uses, see Death (disambiguation), Dead (disambiguation), or Death (band). ...

Taxonomy

Although the Death Adders resemble vipers of the Viperidae family, they are really members of the Elapidae family, being more closely related to cobras, mambas, and coral snakes. Egyptian Cobra, Naga haje This article is about snakes. ... Species - Eastern green mamba - Jamesons mamba - Black mamba - Western green mamba For other uses, see Mamba (disambiguation). ... Species Over 65, see article. ...

It remains unclear how many species this genus includes. Traditionally, only A. antarcticus, A. praelongus and A. pyrrhus have been recognized. Hoser (1998) described five new species (A. barnetti, A. crotalusei, A. cummingi, A. wellsei and A. woolfi) and Hoser (2002) described an additional three (A. groenveldi, A. macgregori and A. yuwoni). These publications were received with some scepticism (e.g. Aplin, 1999, Wüster et al., 2001, and Williams et al., 2006), and only A. wellsi, where an extended description has been published (Aplin & Donnellan, 1999), has been widely recognized. Further confusion exists over the Death Adders from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. They have variously been placed in A. antarcticus or A. praelongus. However, Wüster et al. (2005) showed that neither is appropriate, and the New Guinea Death Adders fall into two main clades: The rather smooth-scaled A. laevis complex (incl. Death Adders from Seram), and the rough-scaled A. rugosus complex. The latter can be divided into two sub-clades; one, A. rugosus sensu stricto, from southern New Guinea, and a second, A. hawkei, from northern Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia. It is likely some of these include more than one species, as populations included in e.g. A. laevis shows extensive variation in both pattern and scalation. For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Seram (formerly Ceram, also called Seran or Serang) is an island in the Maluku province of Indonesia. ... Slogan or Nickname: Sunshine State, Smart State Motto(s): Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Anna Bligh (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd... For similar terms, see Northern Territories (disambiguation) Slogan or Nickname: The Territory, The NT, The Top End Motto(s): none Other Australian states and territories Capital Darwin Government Constitutional monarchy Administrator Ted Egan Chief Minister Clare Martin (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 2  - Senate seats 2 Gross Territorial Product (2004...

References

• The Reptilian Magazine; Volume 3, number 4, pp. 7-21 and Volume 3, number 5, pp. 27-34.
• Aplin, K.P. (1999): "Amateur" taxonomy in Australian herpetology – help or hindrance? Monitor 10 (2/3): 104-109.
• Aplin, K.P. & S.C. Donnellan (1999): An extended description of the Pilbara Death Adder, Acanthophis wellsi Hoser (Serpentes: Elapidae), with notes on the Desert Death Adder, A. pyrrhus Boulenger, and identification of a possible hybrid zone. Records of the Western Australian Museum 19: 277-298.
• Hoser, R. (1998): Death adders (genus Acanthophis): an overview, including descriptions of five new species and one subspecies. Monitor 9(2): 20-30, 33-41. available online
• Hoser, R. (2002): Death Adders (Genus Acanthophis): An Updated overview, including descriptions of 3 New Island species and 2 New Australian subspecies. Crocodilian - Journal of the Victorian Association of Amateur Herpetologists, September 2002: 5-11, 16-22, 24-30, front and back covers. available online
• Williams, D., W. Wüster & B. Fry (2006): The good, the bad and the ugly: Australian snake taxonomists and a history of the taxonomy of Australia's venomous snakes. Toxicon 48: 919-930. available online (PDF)
• Wüster, W., B. Bush, J.S. Keogh, M. O'Shea & R. Shine (2001): Taxonomic contributions in the "amateur" literature: comments on recent descriptions of new genera and species by Raymond Hoser. Litteratura Serpentium 21: 67-79, 86-91. available online (PDF)
• Wüster, W., A.J. Dumbrell, C. Hay, C.E. Pook, D.J. Williams & B.G. Fry (2005): Snakes across the Strait: Trans-Torresian phylogeographic relationships in three genera of Australasian snakes (Serpentes: Elapidae: Acanthophis, Oxyuranus and Pseudechis). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34(1): 1-14. available online (PDF)

External links

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) - Acanthophis
• A severe case of stomatitis (canker or mouthrot) in a Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) associated with a reovirus infection. Boydii (Autumn 2004):16-17. Treatment
• Husbandry and breeding of Death Adders
• WCH Clinical Toxinology