Saw-scaled Viper
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| Saw-scaled Viper | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Echis carinatus (Schneider, 1801) |
The Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) is a small viper (2 feet long) found in northern Africa, the Middle East, central Asia, and India. This species spends most of its time buried beneath the sand with only its eyes showing, waiting for prey. When threatened, it rubs its sides together, and specially oriented keeled scales produce a suprisingly loud rasping noise.
This snake holds the distinction of having killed more people than any other. While the venom is disproportionately toxic for its size (30 cm.) and the fangs can inject it deeply, the main factors leading to this infamous record are its commonality, its wide range, and its habit of lying mostly buried under the sand (which is compounded by it inhabiting areas in which people often go barefoot and lack modern medical facilities). They are the smallest of the "Big Four" dangerous snakes of India.
They are nocturnal in habit feasting on mice, lizards, frogs scorpions and other arthropods. The name saw scale comes from its hissing noise that resembles the sound of a saw scaling.