Bothrops atrox, or better known as the common lancehead is a type of snake found mostly in South America.  The size of the common lancehead can be 75 to 125 cm long.  There are many colors you can find this snake in.  This snake can be brown, olive, tan, yellow, grey, and even a rusty coloration.  The body of the common lancehead has dorsolateral blotches that are shaped as a rectangle or trapezoid.  The snake’s head usually does not show any pattern, other than an occasional stripe that lines the body from the eye to the mouth.

 

The common lancehead feeds mostly on small animals, like birds, frogs, and lizards.  This snake has a lot of advantages for catching food.  Its venom contains hemotoxin, which can be fast and deadly.  The common lancehead likes to hunt for rodents in coffee and banana plantations.  Commonly, workers at the plantations are bitten.  These snakes can be camouflaged for a long time and strike fast.  Fortunately, if bitten, and you get help right away, you should be fine.

 

These snakes like to live in wet, tropical lowlands.  Even though they live normally in terrestrial areas, common lanceheads are great at swimming.  Usually these snakes are nocturnal.  They can be found in South America, the Andes, Columbia, Venezuela, Suriname, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, French Guiana, Brazil, and Bolivia.  This snake is one of the most abundant amount of pit vipers.

 

Common lanceheads are fortunately not endangered.  Even though the rain forests are becoming ruined these snakes are still living strong. These snakes are good for treating bites.  They also keep populations of rodents at a good amount.  Since rodents are crop pests, the common lancehead helps farmers too, except for when they bite the workers!

 

There are many interesting things about this snake.  The common lancehead reproduces.  They give birth to live young.  Once the females have the embryos, from mating with the male, the sun keeps it at a good temperature.  When born, these snakes are generally only 30 cm long.  Even though young, they are still dangerous.  The taxonomy of this snake varies.  It might be B. leucurus, B. moojeni, or B. asper.

 

Author: Emma  W
Published: 02/10

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothrops_atrox

http://www.arthurgrosset.com/mammals/ferdelance.html

Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas, Brazil July 2001

Photo:
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/76525_worlds-most-venomous-snakes