''Bothrops moojeni'', commonly known in English as the Brazilian lancehead, is a highly venomous species of snake in the family Viperidae. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. (series). (volume). It is a pit viper

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Etymology

The specific name, ''moojeni'', is in honor of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

João Moojen de Oliveira (1904–1985).

Description and Behavior

Grows on average 160 cm, with a maximum of 230 cm already reported, has a tan, gray-brown or olive-gray color, with fourteen to twenty-one trapezoidal side marks that are dark gray or completely black, 23 to 29 lines of dorsal scale of the average body, with the belly usually white or cream with dark gray spots scattered, while juveniles have a white tail. It is terrestrial, of nocturnal habits. It is considered very defensive. Its body is viscous, varying from medium to heavy, broad head, flattened in a lance when seen from above and distinct from the narrow neck, the snout is not elevated, the eyes are medium in size, with elliptical pupils vertically, while the scales back are keeled. ''B. moojeni'' is viviparous. Gestation lasts around four months, occurs once a year and 12 to 14 puppies are usually born. Live an average of 15 years. It feeds on small mammals, birds, lizards, snakes and amphibians.

Geographic range and habitat

''B. moojeni'' is found in northern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, eastern

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. The type locality is Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil. ''B. moojeni'' inhabits Araucaria moist forests and the ''

Cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

''.

Common names

In South America

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s for ''B. moojeni'' include ''caiçaca, caissaca, caiçara, jacuruçu'', and ''jararacão''.

Venom

Its venom has hemolytic and proteolytic action. ''B. moojeni'' venom contains a wide variety of enzymes, such as acidic phospholipase, base A phospholipase, metalloproteinases, serine proteinases, L-amino acid oxidase, and a myotoxin phospholipase A2. The myotoxin phospholipase A2 causes necrosis in muscle fibers, releasing creatine kinase. Symptoms may include intense local pain, edema, muscular necrosis. The venom has an anticoagulant effect on the blood, makes the blood uncoagulable, causes severe

hemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, ...

and strokes. Moojenactivase, a procoagulant metalloproteinase is capable to induce DIC with a high toxic potency, characterized by prolongation of Prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin time, consumption of fibrinogen and the plasma coagulation factors like Factor X and II, and thrombocytopenia, it also caused Intravascular hemolysis. The venom has a lethal dose of 0.205 mg / kg for horses. The average yield for an adult female is 335 mg, 63 mg for newborns, specimens from Minas Gerais, Brazil have been reported to be 118 mg, specimens from Argentina have a yield of 248.0 ± 37 mg. A serine protease was determined by de novo mass spectrometry-based sequencing.

Etymology

Description and Behavior

Geographic range and habitat

Common names

Venom

References

Further reading