Boiruna maculata explained

Boiruna maculata, also known commonly as a mussurana (along with several other snakes), is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to South America.

Description

B. maculata has smooth dorsal scales. Adults are uniformly black, both dorsally and ventrally. Juveniles are black dorsally, and red ventrally, with a red nuchal collar.

Geographic range

B. maculata can be found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Habitat

B. maculata is found in a variety of habitats including forest, savanna, shrubland, and desert.

Behavior

B. maculata is terrestrial.

Diet

B. maculata preys predominately upon snakes, but also upon fishes, lizards, birds, and small mammals.

Reproduction

B. maculata is oviparous.

Venom

B. maculata is rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous), and it possesses a venom which is potentially dangerous to humans, especially children.^[1]

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (Oxyrhopus maculatus, new species, p. 110 + Plate VI, figures 2, 2a).
• Carriera, Santiago; Hladky, Ricardo; Lamas, Dario; Negrin, Estela (2018). "Boiruna maculata (Mussurana). Coloration". Herpetological Review 49 (3): 541–542.
• Laspiur A, Nenda SJ (2018). "Geographic Distribution: Boiruna maculata (Mussurana, Víbora Luta)". Herpetological Review 49 (3): 505.
• Zaher H (1996). "A new genus and species of Pseudoboine Snake, with a revision of the genus Clelia (Serpentes, Xenodontinae)". Bollettino del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino 14 (2): 289–337. (Boiruna maculata, new combination).

Notes and References

1. Santos-Costa, Maria Cristina dos; Outeiral, Arlete Ballestrin; D'Agostini, Fernanda Maurer; Cappellari, Lize Helena (2000). "Envenomation by the neotropical colubrid Boiruna maculata (Boulenger, 1896): a case report". Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 42 (5): 283–286. (in English, with an abstract in Portuguese).