Obscure vipers: the Floodplain swamp viper (proatheris superciliaris)
Today I will talk about the Floodplain swamp viper. This very unique viper is in a monotypic genus (proatheris).
This species was included in vipera originally, before being changed to bitis in 1961, and then atheris in 1969, before being put in proatheris in 1996.
Similar to montatheris hindii, it was included in atheris, despite the differences between it and other atheris. It looks somewhat more like a saw scaled viper than most atheris. A small species, about 20 inches long, with females being slightly longer. It’s brown spotted coloration looks some what like a puff adder. They live in East Africa, from Mozambique north to Quissanga, and as far north as Malawi. It’s habitat, as the name suggests are floodplains. They are entirely terrestrial, another reason why it is no longer an atheris. They eat frogs, lizards and small mammals. Not much is known about breeding, but the females give birth to 3-16 neonates. The venom is very hemotoxic, and potentially fatal to humans. No antivenin exists for this species. When threatened it rubs its scales together, like a saw scale viper.
Sources:
The Book Of Snakes, Mark O’Shea
Wikipedia.com
The Reptile Database
