The butterfly viper's scales are so rough and heavily keeled that they can inflict cuts when being handled.
Category: FaunaFacts
FaunaFocus releases a new FaunaFact every single day! These bite-sized bits of information are interesting facts paired with a unique image of that animal.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper has hollow fangs that deliver venom deep into the snake's victims but are folded into the roof of the mouth when not in use and shed every 6-10 weeks.
Butterfly Viper
Primarily nocturnal, the butterfly viper hides during the day in leaf litter and holes or around fallen trees and tangled roots of forest trees.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is viviparous, giving live birth to 6-38 offspring at the start of the rainy season in March and April.
Butterfly Viper
When approached, butterfly vipers often reveal their presence by hissing, said to be the loudest hiss of any African snake—almost a shriek.
Butterfly Viper
Although terrestrial, the butterfly viper uses its partially prehensile tail to climb into trees and thickets in search of food and has been found up to 3 m. above ground.
Butterfly Viper
Relatively little is known about the toxicity and composition of the butterfly viper's single hemotoxic and neurotoxic venom, but it's supposedly less toxic than that of a Gaboon viper.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is known as the "rhinoceros viper" but that name can cause confusion with its close relative, also known as the "rhinoceros viper", (Bitis rhinoceros).
Butterfly Viper
As an ambush predator, the butterfly viper is a non-aggressive, slow-moving, placid animal and will not bite unless provoked or hungry.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper can strike with lightning speed, up to half its body length, in any direction.
Butterfly Viper
No subspecies of the butterfly viper are currently recognized.
Butterfly Viper
The beautiful color patterns of the butterfly viper varies among individuals as Western specimens are more blue, while those from the East are more green.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is 1 of 15 puff adder species, named for their characteristic threat display in which they puff up and enlarge their bodies to twice their normal size.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is carnivorous and feeds on smaller prey than the Gaboon viper, such as toads, frogs, fish, and mice.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is one of the most dangerous and venomous snakes as just small doses of its venom can be deadly, destroying tissue and blood vessels and causing internal bleeding and massive hemorrhaging.
Butterfly Viper
One of the butterfly viper's most distinguishing characteristics is its small, flattened, narrow, triangular-shaped head with a dark triangular-shaped marking on the back.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper inhabits forested areas and tropical forests and rarely ventures into woodlands.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is endemic to central and western Africa and has a more restricted range than the Gaboon viper.
Butterfly Viper
Butterfly vipers are large, stout, heavy-bodied snakes that average 60-90 cm. in length, but can reach up to 2.1 m.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is thus classified as "Not Evaluated."
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is an ambush predator, relying on cryptic coloration as camouflage to hide from its prey.
Butterfly Viper
The butterfly viper is also known as the "rhinoceros viper" because of the 2-3 horn-like projections it has above each nostril.
Weedy Seadragon
Because of its similar appearance, the weedy seadragon is often mistaken for its close relative, the leafy seadragon, but the leafy seadragon is more rare and has more leaf-like appendages.
Weedy Seadragon
Weedy seadragons have become a "flagship" species of the southern Australian coast and are documented in Dragon Search, a database of seadragon sightings that monitors local water quality.
Weedy Seadragon
Over the last 20 years, losses of giant kelp has increased water temperatures and reduced macroalgae, potentially adversely affecting weedy seadragons.
Weedy Seadragon
The weedy seadragon was selected as the Australian State of Victoria's marine faunal emblem in 2002.
Weedy Seadragon
The weedy seadragon is exploited for the aquarium trade at low levels that are not likely of conservation concern.
Weedy Seadragon
Young weedy seadragons are born independent and receive no parental care after they are hatched and released into the external environment.
Weedy Seadragon
The weedy seadragon is primarily threatened by habitat degradation and loss due to pollution and sedimentation, especially in urban areas.
Weedy Seadragon
Like all syngnathids, the weedy seadragon is protected by the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999 and occur in several protected areas, but there are no specific conservation measures in place for the species.
Weedy Seadragon
Although weedy seadragons lay 120-250 eggs, only 60-120 offspring will survive, while the others will fall prey to sea anemones.
Weedy Seadragon
There have been no range-wide population estimates made for the weedy seadragon and further research and monitoring are needed to determine population size and trends.
Weedy Seadragon
Although the weedy seadragon's reproduction is well documented, it's not understood what triggers the species to reproduce and mating in captivity is rare.