What is the purpose of the horned viper horns?

Why does the horned viper have horns? The horns protect the eyes from the harsh conditions of its environment, especially blown sand.

In the wild, they are typically ambush predators, lying submerged in sand adjacent to rocks or under vegetation. The diet of this carnivorous species consists primarily of small rodents, geckos, birds, and a variety of lizards. These vipers are also known to eat jerboas, yellow wagtails, and chiffchaffs.

The desert horned viper often needs to find shelter from the scorching sun, but the creature can't just sit under a tree or nestle into a pile of dead leaves in its barren habitat. The viper's scales are rough, and can dig into sand when the snake moves its body back and forth.

In venom glands, adult specimens of horned viper have 10-45 mg of venom, and one bite can excrete as much as 20 mg of venom, which can be a lethal dose for a healthy adult, especially children, and chronically ill patients.

Vipers are a key element in the ecosystems they live in. As predators, they are close to the top of the food chains, eat species that sometimes can be considered pests (like rodents), and are part of the diet of other larger species.

The horned viper injects its venom into its prey through hollow teeth. The venom causes problems with blood clotting, in particular. In rare cases, a viper bite can be fatal to humans.

A sharp upright scale above each eye resembles a horn. The desert horned viper moves swiftly across the loose sand by sidewinding, throwing oblique loops first with its top half and then with its lower half. With its sharp-edged scales it can shuffle into the sand with amazing speed, burying itself up to the eyes.

The inland or western taipan, Oxyuranus microlepidotus, is the most venomous snake in the world, according to Britannica. Native to Australia, this snake has the deadliest venom based on median lethal dose, or LD50, tests on mice.

Sahara horned vipers are known to have only a few natural enemies, including honey badgers, monitor lizards, and a variety of wild and feral cat species.

All vipers have long, hollow fangs. These teeth are specially designed to inject venom into prey. A viper's fangs connect to venom glands behind the snake's eyes at the base of their triangle-shaped head. When a viper bites, venom travels from the glands, through the hollow teeth, and into the prey.

Despite their reputation, Nose-horned vipers are not aggressive and tend not to bite without considerable provocation. If surprised, wild specimens may react in a number of different ways. Some remain motionless and hiss loudly, some hiss and then flee, while still others will attempt to bite immediately.

Antivenom is the treatment for serious snake envenomation. The sooner antivenom can be started, the sooner irreversible damage from venom can be stopped.

The hedgehog (Erinaceidae), the mongoose (Herpestidae), the honey badger (Mellivora capensis) and the opossum are known to be immune to a dose of snake venom.

Predators, Threats, and Conservation

Birds of prey and mongooses are common threats. Sometimes herons and storks also prey upon vipers. People are another threat to many species.

The saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) may be the deadliest of all snakes, since scientists believe it to be responsible for more human deaths than all other snake species combined. Its venom, however, is lethal in less than 10 percent of untreated victims, but the snake's aggressiveness means it bites early and often.

The fangs of pit vipers are hollow and can deliver a dose of venom deep into tissues. Pit viper venom is a highly complex mix of toxins, including metalloproteinases that cause local tissue destruction and thrombin-like proteins that cause a coagulopathy.

It might be obvious, but the thing to do if you are bitten by a venomous snake is to get to a hospital quickly and receive an antidote. Many people think that the venom kicks in instantly, but it can take between 20 minutes and 72 hours to die if left untreated.

Antivenom Therapy is the mainstay of treatment for Rhinoceros Horned Viper envenomation. Many of the signs and symptoms are ameliorated or entirely eliminated by the antivenom alone. Other symptoms will require additional therapeutic modalities in order to be corrected.

Marlin Perkins, who was the host of television's ''Wild Kingdom'' program for many years and who died in 1986, was one person who survived a bite by a Gaboon viper. The adult viper is typically only four feet long, a stumpy creature with a beautiful tapestry pattern on its skin.

Compared to most snakes in the region, this species is short in length, averaging between 30 and 60 cm. Hatchlings are usually between 12 and 15 cm. Although females are larger, both sexes share the same general body structure and color patterns.

As you might expect, the horned desert viper, or Cerastes cerastes, has two little “horns” shooting up out of its head. When it buries most of its body in the desert sand across North Africa and portions of the Middle East, those sharp-looking nubs and the piercing eyes below them are all that you can see.

Horned viper is a nocturnal true desert snake and prefers sandy soil with some vegetation as shelters.

Of the bunch, corn snakes are considered the most docile and gentle. They are also known for being easy to handle and easy to feed. They are nocturnal and love to burrow. Native to North America, corn snakes mostly come in red, orange, yellow or brown colors.

Black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis)

This snake, found in sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the most feared of all. Unlike the relatively docile inland taipan, the black mamba is known to be particularly aggressive. Although it does not seek out humans, when cornered or threatened it will rear up and strike repeatedly.

A human can collapse within 45 minutes of a Black Mamba bite. Without treatment it can take 7 to 15 hours for a Black Mamba bite to kill you. The sooner a person is treated after the bite, the better his chances of survival. A Black Mamba antidote is administered where necessary, but some people may be allergic.

Matilda's Horned Viper was discovered in a small patch of southwest Tanzania about two years ago and was introduced last month as the world's newest known snake species in an issue of Zootaxa.

The family Viperidae includes adders, pit vipers (like rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and copperheads), the Gaboon viper, green vipers and horned vipers. All vipers are venomous and have long, hinged fangs.