The Spiny Bush Viper is a species of Viper that is native to a small part of East-Central Africa, in the Lake Victoria area.
This species is known by a number of different common names including the Rough Scaled Bush Viper and the African Hairy Bush Viper.
It is a small to medium sized species of viper that typically only grows to around 2 foot in length with Males generally growing larger than females.
Spiny Bush Viper Taxonomy
In the Animal Kingdom, Taxonomy is used as the science and practice of classifying different species and sub-species based on their biological and genetic makeup.
Family
The Spiny Bush Viper belongs to the Viperidae family of snakes. This essentially means that they are a viper. Other popular families of snake include Elapids, Pythons and Boas.
Vipers are renowned for their large, hinged fangs that can penetrate venom deep into their victims for maximum efficiency.
Many species of vipers dont actually have very potent venom but it is still deadly as they can inject very large quantities of it with a single bite.
Another common feature among most vipers is that they are viviparous, meaning they give birth to live young as opposed to laying eggs.
Sub-Family
They belong to the subfamily Viperinae which are regarded as the ‘True Vipers’ or ‘Pitless Vipers’. This subfamily is endemic to Europe, Asia and Africa and contains 13 genera of snakes.
They can be characterised by their lack of heat sensing pits while the closely related sub family of Pit Vipers (Crotalinae) have heat sensing pits.
Some of the other genera in the subfamily Viperinae include the Puff Adders, the Night Adders and the Saw-Scaled Adders.
Genus
The genus that the Spiny Bush Viper belongs to is called Atheris. The Atheris genus consists of the Bush Viper species, all of which are native to sub-Saharan Africa.
There are currently 17 recognised species of Bush Viper. Some of the more commonly known species include the West African Bush Viper and the Variable Bush Viper.
Most species of Bush Viper are found in the rainforests and humid forest of Central and Western Africa. Because they have particular habitat requirements, their ranges are often fragmented.
Species
The scientific name for the Spiny Bush Viper is Atheris hispida and there are currently no recognised sub-species.
Its name comes from the Greek words that roughly translates into hairy and tailed.
The species was first described in 1955 by a Belgian herpetologist named Raymond Laurent. Raymond specialized in African and South American amphibians and reptiles.
Spiny Bush Viper Description
The Spiny Bush Viper is a small to medium sized species of Viper that can grow to a little over 2 feet in length.
Males are typically larger than females with an average size of around 29 inches while females typically grow to around the 2ft mark.
The body of these snakes is covered in large elongated scales that are heavily keeled. This gives the snake a very rough looking appearance.
The scales around the head and neck are particularly long, which makes it very easy to distinguish the snakes head from the rest of its body.
The Spiny Bush Viper also has large eyes that are positioned towards the sides of the snake’s head. The eyes have vertically elliptical pupils.
The head itself has a typical viper appearance to it. It is broad and triangular in shape, extending outwards from its narrow neck.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
There isn’t a huge amount of information out there on the geographical distribution of the Spiny Bush Viper but they are found around the Lake Victoria area of East-Central Africa.
They can be found in the North-Eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South-Western Uganda, Western Kenya and North-Western Tanzania.
It is believed that they live in isolated populations across these regions. They are an arboreal species that can typically be found in Rainforests, Woodlands and Swamps.
They share part of their range with species such as the Kenyan Sand Boa and the Pygmy Chameleon.
Spiny Bush Viper Diet
The Spiny Bush Viper is an opportunistic feeder and will eat a variety of different animals including small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs.
They have a prehensile tail and are known to hang upside down from tree branches waiting for unsuspecting prey to come within striking distance.
They are also known to leave the trees and hide among the leaf litter of the forest floor where they will wait to ambush their prey.
Spiny Bush Viper Venom
The Spiny Bush Viper has a venom that is primarily neurotoxic. This type of venom primarily attacks the nervous system.
A secondary component of their venom contains cytotoxins which primarily attacks the cells of the victim.
Due to the remote locations where the Spiny Bush Viper is found, it is believed that bites are rare. However, they do have the ability to kill a human if left untreated.
