Re.51 YOUNG ONE OF VIPER RUSSELLI(Russell’s Viper)

 

Phylum: Chordata

Class   : Reptilia

Order  : Squamata

Family : Viperidae

Genus : Daboia

Species : russelii

DESCRIPTION

Russell's viper (Daboia russelii) is a venomous snake in the family Viperidae native to the Indian subcontinent and one of the big four snakes in India. It was described in 1797 by George Shaw and Frederick Polydore Nodder, and named after Patrick Russell, who wrote about it in his 1796 work An account of Indian serpents, collected on the coast of Coromandel.

The head is flattened, triangular, and distinct from the neck. The snout is blunt, rounded, and raised. The nostrils are large, each in the middle of a large, single nasal scale. The lower edge of the nasal scale touches the nasorostral scale. The supranasal scale has a strong crescent shape and separates the nasal from the nasorostral scale anteriorly. The rostral scale is as broad as it is high.

Russell's viper is found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. Populations from South-East Asia previously assigned to this species are now considered to be part of a different species, Daboia siamensis. The type locality is listed as "India". More specifically, this would be the Coromandel Coast, by inference of Russell (1796).

Venom of this species is delivered by means of solenoglyphous dentition.The quantity of venom produced by individual specimens of D. russelii is considerable. Venom yields for adult specimens have been reported as 130–250 mg, 150–250 mg, and 21–268 mg. For 13 juveniles with an average total length of 79 cm (31 in), the venom yield ranged from 8 to 79 mg (mean 45 mg).

IUCN Status: Not evaluated