return to main index
  mobile - desktop
follow us on facebook follow us on twitter follow us on YouTube link to us on LinkedIn
 
click here for Rodent Pro
Mice, Rats, Rabbits, Chicks, Quail
Available Now at RodentPro.com!
Locate a business by name: click to list your business
search the classifieds. buy an account
events by zip code list an event
Search the forums             Search in:
News & Events: Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday! . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day: Hognose . . . . . . . . . .  Bay Area Herpetological Society Meeting - July 25, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Suncoast Herp Society Meeting - July 26, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  DFW Herp Society Meeting - July 26, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Tucson Herpetological Society Meeting - July 28, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Southwestern Herp Society Meeting - Aug 02, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Greater Cincinnati Herp Society Meeting - Aug 06, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  St. Louis Herpetological Society - Aug 10, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Kentucky Reptile Expo - Aug. 16, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Colorado Herp Society Meeting - Aug 16, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Chicago Herpetological Society Meeting - Aug 17, 2025 . . . . . . . . . . 
Free Nationwide Ground Shipping on All Frozen Food Orders Totaling $99 Or More at RodentPro.com!

RE: Death Adders are Elapids... WHY?

[ Login ] [ User Prefs ] [ Search Forums ] [ Back to Main Page ] [ Back to Venomous Reptiles ]

Posted by: LarryF at Mon Nov 24 02:12:14 2008   [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by LarryF ]  
   

First of all, many elapids have very mobile fangs. They are often described as "fixed", but this is an oversimplification that has led to many bites. I've had a few cobras I was holding behind the head get uncomfortably close with a fang swinging wildly out of the side of their mouth.

Death adders may have the longest and most mobile fangs of the elapids, but not by as wide a margin as a quick read may lead you to expect.

The way a viper's fangs work is fundamentally different. There is at least one extra bone involved in the "hinge" that does not appear in the death adder.

It also would be one of a very small handful of vipers that lay eggs.

I'm sure there are many other anatomical keys that I'm missing, and I would be VERY surprised if the death adder hasn't been studied genetically because of these very questions.

You might try contacting Dr, Fry at: www.venomdoc.com

If he hasn't been directly involved in sequencing them, I bet he can tell you who has.

-----
What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

   

[ Hide Replies ]


>> Next topic:  Look at this pretty Girl - ldblawson, Tue Nov 25 08:44:28 2008
<< Previous topic:  AUS Press: GPS saves man bitten by snake - W von Papineäu, Sun Nov 23 18:37:00 2008