Gabonese sizzling vipers can be said to be one of the most peculiar snakes in the world, they are jokingly called the "soil fat house" of the venomous snake world, most of the venomous snakes are fast-moving, responsive, slender physiological characteristics, like the black mamba snake, cobra, silver ring snake have this characteristic, but the Gabon sizzling viper breaks this tradition, they are slow to move, wide and fat, their crawling style is also unique, the other snakes in the world are basically "S" crawling, and the Gabon sizzling viper crawls like a caterpillar. Fortunately, the Gabonese viper relies on self-generated poison to gain an acre and a third of the living space in the fiercely competitive natural environment in Africa, and their high venom does not seem to have changed their inability to sit on the throne of the African viper brother, although they have the longest venom in the world, the venom secretion is one of the largest, but they are not aggressive, the crawling speed is very slow, and the area they live in is not like the black mamba snake near the human settlement, so the African venomous snake brother still belongs to the black mamba snake.
Gabon sizzle viper
Gabonese vipers are mainly distributed in the rare grasslands and tropical rainforests of sub-Saharan Africa, as vipers of the viper family, they have a typical triangular head, they can live to more than 10 years, in the case of breeding can live to about 13 years, this lifespan is obviously not comparable to 29 years of forest cobras and 22 years of poisonous cobras. As the representative snakes of the "soil fat house" of the venomous snake world, their weight is also quite heavy, and the average weight of adult Gabonese vipers is about 10 kg and the body length is about 1.5 meters. The Gabonese viper is one of the longest venomous snakes in the world, with an average length of 2.9 cm and a longest length of 4.4 cm, which makes other venomous snakes look up to it. The tooth length of the eastern diamond-spotted rattlesnake living in the Americas is 1.7 cm-2.2 cm, the fangs of the silver ring snake are only 2-4 mm long, the length of the five-step snake venomous fangs is about 2 cm, and the length of the black mamba snake is about 3-6 mm. Similarly, the length of the poisonous fangs determines the discharge of venom, and the Gabonese viper is also one of the most detoxified snakes in the world, with an average detoxification of 459-600 mg and a maximum emission of 2400 mg.
The poisonous fangs of the Gabonese viper
Camouflage of the Gabonese viper
Gabonese vipers are just as good at ambushing, their leaf-like pattern is especially suitable for hiding in thick deciduous bushes, they like to ambush prey in the deciduous pile, pay special attention to the presence of this snake when passing through the deciduous pile in Africa, Gabon vipers do not bite their prey like other venomous snakes and immediately loosen their mouths, they bite the prey and will not let go until the prey is completely poisoned and incapacitated, the long poisonous fangs are conducive to firmly biting the prey, and at the same time can inject massive venom. Their fat stature and slow crawling speed allow them to rely on the camouflage color of their bodies to ambush and hunt, and thankfully, gabonese vipers make a "hissing" sound like cobras when they sense danger, and although they have the longest poisonous fangs in the world, they are not aggressive toward humans, not as aggressive as their relatives.
Gabonese viper in disguise
The appearance and "hissing" of the Gabonese vipers have been learned by the Congolese toad, which has learned to imitate the sounds and shapes of gabonese sizzling vipers in the same region. They may hope to scare off predators when confronted with threats by mimicking the shape and sound of venomous snakes, and the Congolese toad is arguably the first known example of a toad mimicking a venomous snake in nature.
The deadly venom of the Gabonese viper
Gabonese sizzling viper venom contains deadly cytotoxins, blood toxins and cardiac toxins, cytotoxins in the venom can cause the ulceration of cell tissues in the wound location, blood toxins will cause many small clots in the blood, and then the blood of the body can not flow, and finally cause the blood to lose the ability to coagulate, which means that the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and wounds begin to bleed, probably this is the best explanation for the bleeding of the seven tricks. Cardiac toxins can cause arrhythmias. Although the Gabonese sizzling viper has long teeth, a lot of venom secretion, and a strong toxicity, they have very few incidents of injury, which may be related to their low aggression and "hissing warnings, but once someone was bitten by the Gabonese viper and died 30 minutes after being bitten, you can imagine how toxic the Gabon viper is."