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Agkistrodons
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by spidersnake on April 26, 2005
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This is a article I submitted to the articles section about a week or two ago. The original article has a few typo's but I revised this version. This is going to be the start of a book I am writing.You can find the original article at
http://venomousreptiles.org/articles/216
I know it is kinda short but theres always room for improvement. well here it is.
Agkistrodons by Jimmy Woodman
There are ten species in this genus. Three of them exist in Southeastern USA and Central America. The Copperhead, A. contortrix , the Cottonmouth, A. piscivorous , and the Cantil, A. bilineatus. I will be discussing the Cotton- mouth and the Copperhead. These are medium sized pit vipers, growing up to four feet. (a little over one meter)
Here is a list of these American Snakes:
Florida Cottonmouth- A. piscivorous conanti
Eastern Cottonmouth- A. piscivorous piscivorous
Western Cottonmouth- A. piscivorous leucostoma
Northern Copperhead- A. contortrix mokasen
Southern Copperhead- A. contortrix contortrix
Osage Copperhead- A. contortrix pheaogaster
Broad-Banded Copperhead- A. contortrix laticinctus
Trans-Pecos Copperhead- A. contortrix pictigaster
Mexican Cantil- A. bilineatus bilineatus
The Cottonmouth
The Cottonmouth, A.K.A. the “Water Moccasin.” The use of the common name “Water Moccasin” should be avoided, for it is misleading. Many ignorant people apply the name to harmless water snakes. (Note:Ignorant means not knowing or lacking knowledge of. I am not calling people who don't know anything about snakes stupid.) Anyway…
The Cottonmouth, being semi aquatic, is unique among vipers. It is often found in water. Giving it the name Water Moccasin.
Its diet includes; fish, other snakes, frogs, salamander, lizards, small turtles, baby alligators, birds, small mammals and other snakes.
This stout-bodied snake has weakly keeled scales. Its color varies, from black, dark brown or gray.With either dark, or cream barring along its body.They sometimes have a yellow line running from the snout to above the eye, and, or under the eye. The have elliptical pupils, and large heat sensitve pits between the eyes and nostrils.Cottonmouths swim with their heads above the water, unlike water snakes.(genus:Nerodia)
Cotton Mouths Give Birth to live young. Ranging from 8 to 12 offspring. Each are about 8 to 10 inches long. With a diameter of about ¾ of an inch.This is a mildly aggressive snake. When aggravated the cotton mouth will open its mout, exposing the white lining inside. (Hence the name.)This snake will not hesitate to stand its ground. It is not to be trifled with.The cottonmouth is potentially an extremely dangerous snake. Fully capable of delivering a fatal bite. Cottonmouthshave another defense mechanism.(Which is sometimes noticed without bothering the snake.) It produces a foul smelling, musky odor. Which I believe is comparable to a skunk. Copperheads also produce such an odor. The venom of the conttonmouth is hemotoxic. This means that the venom breaks down and destroys blood cells and other tissues and lowers the ability to coagulate or clot. This results in a hemorrhage throughout any portion of the circulatory system that is penetrated by poison. Be careful while interacting with this snake. Give it the Respect it deserves.
The Copperhead
Agkistrodon contortrix.The Copperhead.This is a Medium sized pit viper, with a mild temperment. It grows up to 4 1/2 feet in length. It has thick chestnut or brownish copper colored crossbands along the body. It can range from copper, pinkish brown, to brown, to even gray. It has elliptical pupils, large heat-sensitive pits, and weakly keeled scales. The Copperhead, like the Cottonmouth, and the Rattlesnake, is ovivaparous.(Meaning it gives birth to live young)Copperhead venom, from what i understand, comes in a variety. From heamotoxic, neurotoxic, to cytotoxic.If my source is right, Scientists at Oklahoma State University are testing copperhead venom on cancer cells. I dont know anything further than that. But who knows, maybe it could be the cure. But I still think we have a long way to go before it is found. Anyway... A Copperhead's diet consists of: lizards, frogs, rodents, small birds, and other snakes. It usually is quite placid, and is not quick to bite.(usually) Copperheads are the smallest, and least dangerous, of the North American Pit Vipers. Bites are common, but deaths are very rare.Normally, it will lie motionless in leaf litter as you pass by. Most bites occur when the snake is handled, cornered, or stepped on. It is a voracious predator. Lying motionless while unsuspecting prey wanders by. Usually with fatal results. The Copperhead may be small, but it can deliver a lethal bite when harrassed.(highly unlikely) So if you don't know what you are doing, stay away from venomous snakes until you are capable of handling them properly.
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RE: Agkistrodons
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by Snakeman1982 on April 26, 2005
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There are 4 species in Agkistrodon. contortrix, piscivorus, bilineatus, and taylori. The others (e.g. piscivorus conanti) are subspecies. Hope this helps.
A book on this group would be probably be futile, since there are already good books on this group (i.e. "Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex" and "Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere").
Robert
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RE: Agkistrodons
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by Snakeman1982 on April 26, 2005
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I am not trying to discourage you from writing books. In fact, it is good that you are passionate and trying to start early. There are plenty of other herpetology books out there that need to be written though. Look at what needs to be done and then try to focus on that. There are a lot of topics that haven't been done. Do some literature reviews on the subject you are interested in and then do some research in that field. Later after many years of research you may have a good book to publish but it takes many years to write a good book and usually the author should have contributed to the science of the book instead of just re-writing what others have done. Read what others are doing and then take the next step in research.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do,
Robert
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RE: Agkistrodons
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by spidersnake on April 27, 2005
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thanks for theinfo Robert, I got my info from an old source, I appreciate it. I know I am young but writng gives me something to keep me busy while there is not anything else to do. (when I am not herping)
but I have a question, was the rest of my info right?
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RE: Agkistrodons
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by Snakeman1982 on April 27, 2005
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Agkistrodon is an older genus that use to contain a lot of Asian species. Those pitviper species are now in other genera like Gloydius, Deinagkistrodon, Hypnale, Calloselasma... They were all lumped in the same genus because most have same body structure and head plates. We now consider the large head plates as a less important morphological character, notice that Sistrurus ravus is now Crotalus ravus.
Just scanning over a bit on what you wrote down.
Copperheads also eat a lot of cicadas and some other invertebrates. That isn't very well published in common book literature but a Ph.D buddy of mine did a study and published that a majority of stomach content from neonate copperheads he found consisted of cicadas and other inverts.
The other subspecies of A. bilineatus are russeolus and howardgloydi.
You wrote Cotton Mouths in one paragraph and heamotoxin. Simple mistakes there.
Again, good on ya for starting to write early.
Robert
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RE: Agkistrodons
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by Snakeman1982 on April 27, 2005
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I also highly recommend trying to get a copy of "Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere" if you don't have it yet. It is the best book out there. "Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex" is good as well but a little outdated. "Asian Pitvipers" is also good but not much natural history. Mostly just photos and taxonomic info. You can get it at www.Geitje-Books-Berlin.de
These are expensive books but worth it. Especially VRWH.
Robert
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