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.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.
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RE: Death Adders are Elapids... WHY? - LarryF, Mon Nov 24 02:12:14 2008