Search results for "Vipera latastei"
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Significance of the dorsal zigzag pattern of Vipera latastei gaditana against avian predators
2005
Summary 1. Aposematism is an antipredatory strategy in which prey animals conspicuously signal their noxiousness to potential predators. This successful strategy is based on avoidance learning of predators. 2. Most species in the viperid genus Vipera have a characteristic dorsal zigzag pattern. It has previously been suggested that the dorsal zigzag pattern of Vipera berus (the adder) has a cryptic function and thus makes the snake less conspicuous to avian predators. However, a recent experiment suggested that the pattern may function as an aposematic signal rather than being cryptic, and therefore induces active avoidance in avian predators. 3. We conducted a field experiment in Donana na…
First helminthological data on Iberian vipers: Helminth communities and host-parasite relationships
2006
AbstractEuropean vipers are ambush predators with sporadic feeding events, thereby maintaining the digestive tract empty for long periods. According to previous studies relating lizards’ dietary habits and their helminth faunas, we predict poor gastrointestinal helminth communities in vipers. To test this hypothesis, we have examined the digestive tract of 86 specimens of Vipera aspis (L., 1758) and V. latastei Boscá, 1878, from several localities of the Iberian Peninsula. We found adults of only two nematode species Kalicephalus viperae (Rud., 1819) and Ophidascaris sp. and cysts adhering to the external wall on the stomach in case of two other nematode species Ascarops strongylina (Rud., …