The Atractaspididae (atractaspidids) are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

venomous snakes ''Venomous snakes'' are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow ...

found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, commonly called mole vipers, stiletto snakes, or burrowing asps. Currently, 12

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

are recognized.

Description

This family includes many genera formerly classed in other families and subfamilies, on the basis of

fang A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fangs, ...

type. It includes fangless ( aglyphous), rear-fanged ( opisthoglyphous), fixed-fanged ( proteroglyphous), and viper-like ( solenoglyphous)

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. Early molecular and physiological data linking this subfamily to others were ambiguous and often contradictory, which means the

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of this subfamily has been highly contentious. The nominate family, Atractaspididae, has itself been moved to and from other taxa, such as potentially forming a trichotomy with Elapidae and Colubridae, reinforcing the ambiguity of this subfamily.

Geographic range

This subfamily is found in

and the

.Mehrtens JM. 1987
Living Snakes of the World in Color
New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. .Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. .Parker HW, Grandison AGC. 1977. Snakes -- a natural history. Second Edition. British Museum (Natural History) and Cornell University Press. 108 pp. 16 plates. . (cloth), (paper).

Venom

Many of these snakes are inoffensive or far too small to envenomate a person effectively. However, some can inflict severe tissue necrosis; e.g. if the victim's thumb is bitten, the tip of that digit may be lost. Relapses may occur long after the bite. The bites of stiletto snakes are often exceptionally painful. Very few deaths have resulted from accidents with these snakes, although large individuals of ''

Atractaspis microlepidota The small-scaled burrowing asp (''Atractaspis microlepidota'') is a species of Atractaspididae, atractaspidid snake from West Africa. Geographic range ''Atractaspis microlepidota'' is found in Senegal, Gambia, southern Mauritania, and western Ma ...

'' and other long-glanded species are very likely to be dangerous. Some of the long-fanged species are able to stab their prey (or an unfortunate human) even while their mouths are closed, and the typical grasp used by

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

s to securely hold venomous snakes is not safe for this group. This ability to stab sideways even with a closed mouth is the basis for an English name used for some of them: "side-stabbing snakes" or "side-stabbers".

Genera

Taxonomy

This family was previously classified as a subfamily of the

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. C ...

: the Aparallactinae.

Gallery

File:Amblyodipsas microphthalma.jpg, ''Amblyodipsas''

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

; eastern purple-glossed snake ( A. microphthalma) File:Aparallactus capensis.jpg, ''Aparallactus'' type species; Cape centipede-eater ( A. capensis) File:Atractaspis bibronii full body.jpg, ''Atractaspis'' type species; southern stiletto snake ( A. bibronii) File:Homoroselaps lacteus.jpg, ''Homoroselaps'' type species; spotted harlequin snake ( H. lacteus) File:Macrelaps microlepidotus head.jpg, ''Macrelaps'' type species; Natal black snake ( M. microlepidotus) File:מחרוזן הטבעות (דו-גוני).jpg, ''Micrelaps'' type species; Müller's snake ( M. muelleri) File:Xenocalamus bicolor.jpg, ''Xenocalamus'' type species; slender quill-snouted snake ( X. bicolor)

References

External links

*
Atractaspids at Life is Short but Snakes are Long

Stiletto snakes at Tetrapod Zoology

iNaturalist link
{{Authority control Snake subfamilies Taxa named by Albert Günther