pit viper


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viper

 [vi´per]
1. any snake of the viperid and crotalid families (the true vipers and the pit vipers).
2. a term sometimes used to refer to any venomous snake.
Old World viper true viper.
pit viper any of a family of venomous snakes found in North America including the many types of rattlesnakes (genera Crotalus and Sistrurus), as well as the copperheads and water moccasins (both of genus Agkistrodon).
Russell's viper Vipera russellii, a true viper of Southeast Asia whose venom (Russell's viper venom) is used in blood tests.
true viper any of a large family of venomous snakes found in Africa, parts of Europe, Asia, and adjacent islands, but not in the Americas or Australia; it includes cobras and adders, among others. Called also Old World viper, viperid, and viperine.

pit viper

n.
Any of various venomous snakes of the subfamily Crotalinae, such as the copperhead, rattlesnake, or fer-de-lance, characterized by a small sensory pit below each eye.
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References in periodicals archive ?
A thorough evaluation and physical examination should be performed when a pit viper envenomation is suspected.
Pit viper envenomation in a military working dog
He submitted that the poison used in the July 2010 "Lily Robinson and Ready, On the Set, Go" came from the Deinagkistrodon acutus, a Southeast Asian pit viper. Dr.
Lily Robinson [shoe] and ready, on the set, go: recollections
Arboreal green pit vipers (genus Trimeresurus) of South-East Asia/; bites by T.
Anti snake venom provision in Asia and Papua New Guinea: a guide to potential anti venom products for clinicians, purchasers and manufacturers
(2005) suggested that Bothrops asper is dominant over smaller and ecologically less versatile pit vipers, often displacing them by means of competitive exclusion.
A prey item not previously recorded for Bothrops asper: a case of ophiophagy involving two sympatric pit viper species/Una presa de Bothrops asper no reportada previamente: un caso de ofiofagia que involucra dos especies simpatricas de viboras
RATTLESNAKE FAMILY: a pit viper with rattles (buttons) on the tip of his tail.
Support snakes: these often maligned, slithering reptiles do more good than harm
A one-eyed male was observed foot-flagging and toe-wiggling at a tail-luring pit viper (Bothrops jararacussu), then approaching it.
Theatrical frogs and crafty snakes: predation of visually-signalling frogs by tail-luring and ambushing pitvipers
Martin in February, learning that AFMC is on the cutting edge of research, considering everything from the latest in robotics, to the heat-sensor ability of a pit viper, to the self-healing capabilities of human cells, in its drive to deliver to the warfighter.
USAF Materiel Command: delivering war-winning capabilities on time and on cost
The experimental treatment carried out in Chicago follows the discovery that blood failed to clot in people bitten by the Malayan pit viper.
Snake hope for stroke victims
Produced from pit viper poison, captopril dramatically lowers high blood pressure.
Venom: Miracle Medicine?
Our sandy soil grows rocks, rattlesnakes, scorpions, and any other pit viper than can slither here.
Revelling in the homestead experience
In medicine, the venom of a South American pit viper led to the discovery of the system that regulates blood pressure in human beings.
Saving our biological resources
A pit viper has two heat sensors, called pits, on the front of its face.
Snake sense

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