Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Plate 2.12 White-lipped green pit viper; bai chun zhu ye qing; ngu khiaw hang mai;
others ( Cryptelytrops albolabris ), Thailand. A small, wide-ranging, Southeast Asian crotaline
viperid that is common and responsible for many bites primarily associated with local
morbidity. An arboreal species, it has a prehensile tail, and will frequently use it as an anchor
to tree branches, recoiling into a flexed sigmoid body position. It is commonly maintained in
private collections.
Photo copyright to David A. Warrell.
Plate 2.13 Close-up of the enlarged posterior maxillary teeth of the boomslang
( Dispholidus typus ). Note the deep groove (arrow) that traverses the majority of the length
of the tooth, and the blade-like modification of the edges. Several theories considering the
development of specialized ophidian teeth include programmed cell death (apoptosis) of
epithelial cells, and the resulting formation of a functional lumen/canal that facilitates the
delivery of venom. AMNH specimen #75722, photo copyright to Arie Lev.
plesiomorphic state. In this view, enclosed fang lumens developed by a change in the
shape and size of the initial invagination.
Recent data have shed additional light on the shared developmental mechanisms
for specialized dentition among colubroids with either posterior enlarged grooved or
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