PIT VIPER

poisonous snake of the family Crotalidae, primarily a New World family. Like the Old World true vipers (family Viperidae), pit vipers have long, hollow, erectile fangs that are folded back against the roof of the mouth except when the snake is striking. In addition, the pit vipers have developed special organs of heat reception that help them to sense warm-blooded animals, an ability that is especially useful at night, when many of them hunt. These organs consist of pits, for which the group is named, located just behind the nostrils and covered with a temperature-sensitive membrane. Some pit vipers may also use these organs to find cool refuges from inhospitable daytime temperatures.

The largest group of pit vipers is the rattlesnake genus Crotalus, found in North, Central, and N South America. Other New World forms are the fer-de-lance (genus Bothrops) and the bushmaster (genus Lachesis). The genus Ancistrodon includes the copperhead and water moccasin, as well as about a dozen Asian species. Pit vipers are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, family Crotalidae.

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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Questia Books and Articles on: Pit Viper
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books on: Pit Viper  - 73 results

       More book Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >>  
 
1.
The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy
Book by Terryl L. Givens; Oxford University Press, 1997
Subjects: American Literature--19th Century--History And Criticism, Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints--Controversial Literature--History And Criticism, Mormon Church--Controversial Literature--History And Criticism
...continue seamlessly into the Mormon realm. In 1881, Mrs. A. G. Paddock will describe, in The Fate of Madame La Tour , a burial pit with the remains of small children, and, in 1917, a "New York Detective" working for the Secret Service will describe secret...
2.
The United Nations and Iraq: Defanging the Viper
Book by Jean E. Krasno, James S. Sutterlin; Praeger, 2003
Subjects: Biological Arms Control--Verification--Iraq--Interviews, Chemical Arms Control--Verification--Iraq--Interviews, Nuclear Arms Control--Verification--Iraq--Interviews, United Nations--Special Commission On Iraq--History--Interviews, Weapons Of Mass Destruction--Iraq--Interviews
...and 23, 1998, to analyze laboratory results showing traces of VX agent on Iraqi special munitions warheads found at the Nibai pit, where Iraq claimed to have unilaterally destroyed these materials. As stated earlier, the international team unanimously...
3.
International Wildlife Encyclopedia - Vol. 14
Book by Maurice Burton, Robert Burton; Marshall Cavendish, 2002
Subjects: Zoology--Dictionaries
PIT VIPERS CLASS Reptilia ORDER...contortrix; Himalayan pit viper, A. himalayanus...mammals, and pit vipers generaHv tend to hunt...detector pits. Pit vipers have one pit on each...Using these, o pit viper can pick up the trail...
4.
Words of the Vietnam War: The Slang, Jargon, Abbreviations, Acronyms, Nomenclature, Nicknames, Pseudonyms, Slogans, Specs, Euphemisms, Double-Talk, Chants, and Names and Places of the Era of United States Involvement in Vietnam
Book by Gregory R. Clark; McFarland, 1990
Subjects: Americanisms--Dictionaries, English Language--United States--Slang--Dictionaries, Military Art And Science--Dictionaries, Soldiers--United States--Language--Dictionaries, United States--History, Military--20th Century--Dictionaries, Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Language--Dictionaries
...Vietnam were the Asiatic cobra, Malayan krait, Russells viper, Malayan pit viper, hook-nosed sea snake, Hardwicks sea snake, brown...snake and the bamboo viper.The python and Waglers pit viper and Asiatic file were common nonpoisonous snakes...
5.
The Subtle Beast: Snakes, from Myth to Medicine
Book by André Ménez; Taylor & Francis, 2003
Subjects: Poisonous Snakes--Venom, Serpents--Mythology, Snakes
...Subfamily Examples Viperidae Viperinae (pitless vipers) Puff adder, European vipers, Russells viper, Saw-scaled viper, Horned viper Crotalinae (pit vipers, Azemiops ) Rattlesnakes, fer-de-lance, cottonmouth, bushmaster, bamboo pit viper...
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journal articles on: Pit Viper  - 19 results

       More journal Results: 1-10 11-19 >>  
 
1.
Lachesis Muta (Viperidae) Cdnas Reveal Diverging Pit Viper Molecules and Scaffolds Typical of Cobra (Elapidae) Venoms: Implications for Snake Toxin Repertoire Evolution
Journal article by Inácio L. M Junqueira-De-Azevedo, Ana T. C Ching, Eneas Carvalho, Fernanda Faria; Genetics, Vol. 173, 2006
Subjects: Deoxyribonucleic acid--DNA, E coli, Molecules, Snake bites, Toxins
...Cdnas Reveal Diverging Pit Viper Molecules and Scaffolds...Crotalinae subfamily: pit vipers) is the predominant...effects. Among the pit vipers (the Viperinae subfamily...containing the longest vipers of the world, up to...They are common pit viper toxins, such as serine...
2.
Biodiversity and a New "Best Base" for Applying the Environmental Statutes Extraterritorially
Journal article by Paul Boudreaux; Environmental Law, Vol. 37, 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity conservation--Laws, regulations and rules, Biological diversity conservation--Laws, regulations and rules, Endangered Species Act of 1973, Environmental law--Usage, Exterritoriality--Laws, regulations and rules, Extraterritoriality--Laws, regulations and rules, National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Presumptions (Law)--Laws, regulations and rules, Wildlife conservation--Laws, regulations and rules
...that the venom of a South American pit viper helped scientists discover the system...converting enzyme inhibition: from viper to patient, 84 HEART, at ill-il4...qualities, such as the Brazilian pit viper or the Madagascar rosy periwinkle...
3.
Electromagnetic Applications of Biomimetic Research
Journal article by Morley O. Stone, Rajesh R. Naik, Lawrence L. Brott, Peter S. Meltzer Jr.; Air & Space Power Journal, Vol. 18, 2004
Subjects: Engineering research, Military technology, Military weapons, Sensors
...snakes from the boa, python, and pit-viper families; and bacterial-based systems...the surface structure of a snakes IR pit organs would constitute a significant...endeavor. The micropits of the IR pit organ, for example, are approximately...
4.
Rattlesnake Orientation to Prey as a Function of Thermal Backgrounds and Edges
Journal article by Demetri Hilario Theodoratus, David Chiszar, Hobart M. Smith; The Psychological Record, Vol. 47, 1997
Subjects: Animal behavior--Environmental aspects, Orientation (Psychology)--Environmental aspects, Rattlesnakes--Behavior
...R. C. (1981). Crotaline pit organs analyzed as warm receptors...infrared stimulation of the pit receptors in a crotaline snake...function of the facial and labial pits of snakes. Proceedings of the...1975). Tectal organization of pit viper infrared reception. Brain Research...
5.
Clinical and Research Searching on the Wild Side: Exploring the Veterinary Literature
Journal article by Kristine M. Alpi, Elizabeth Stringer, Ryan S. Devoe, Michael Stoskopf; Journal of the Medical Library Association, Vol. 97, 2009
Subjects: Animal behavior, Aquariums, Archives & records, Colleges & universities, Conferences, Confidence intervals, Data bases, Information literacy, Journals, Medical research, Medicine, Meetings, Searches, Snakes, Teaching hospitals, Veterinary medicine
...were native crotalids (rattlesnakes and others of the pit viper group) and not those of the families of snakes that produce...procedure for anesthesia was developed." The keywords ("PIT tags," "spider marker," "Theraphosidae family of...
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magazine articles on: Pit Viper  - 29 results

       More magazine Results: 1-10 11-20 21-29 >>  
 
1.
The Private Lives of Pit Vipers
Magazine article by Michael Lipske; National Wildlife, Vol. 33, August 1995
Subjects: Snakes--Behavior
...against the roof of a pit vipers mouth are two...hollow teeth. When a pit viper strikes, the two fangs...modified saliva that is viper venom. Pity the vipers prey, which for blacktails...no more than a dozen pit viper species receive special...Another place where pit vipers crawl with confidence...
2.
For Goodness Snakes: Treating and Preventing Venomous Bites
Magazine article by John Henkel; FDA Consumer, Vol. 29, November 1995
Subjects: Antivenins--Health aspects, Bites (Injuries)--Care and treatment, Bites and stings--Care and treatment, Poisonous snakes, Poisonous snakes--Venom, Snake venom, Stings (Injuries)--Care and treatment
...United States. The vast majority are pit vipers, of the family Crotalidae, which...be poor timing by the snake. "Pit vipers have a very sophisticated mechanism...For example, he says, a common pit viper in the Southwest, the Mojave rattlesnake...
3.
Collecting Nature
Magazine article; American Scholar, Vol. 67, Spring 1998
Subjects: Collectors (Persons)--Personal narratives, Collectors and collecting--Personal narratives
...a stuffed mouse, a stuffed bat, the skeleton of a pit viper, a hornets nest, a mounted ostrich egg, a hunk of petrified...people walked underneath the blowfish and took away the pit viper skeleton and the desiccated sandshark and the pickled...
4.
Is Rattlesnake Venom Evolving?
Magazine article by Steve Grenard; Natural History, Vol. 109, July 2000
Subjects: Animal bites, Snakes
...rattlers or their cousins in the pit viper subfamily, which includes copperheads...decades ago. Scientists knew that pit vipers produced a hemotoxic venom that was...the venoms of several kinds of pit vipers. While this preparation does not...
5.
Why Do They Say What They Say? Six Dance Critics Defend Their Opinions
Magazine article by Joseph Carman; Dance Magazine, Vol. 82, December 2008
Subjects: Dance critics--Practice, Dance critics--Social aspects
...Six Dance Critics Defend Their Opinions. by Joseph Carman ILLUSTRATION OMITTED Rattlesnake. Scoundrel. Pitbull. Pit Viper. Scumbag. Trash talker. Good-for-nothing. Witch. Donkeys ass. Monster. Disaster...
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newspaper articles on: Pit Viper  - 31 results

       More newspaper Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-31 >>  
 
1.
THANKS A MILL.. CRIME EXCLUSIVE DOG-FIGHTING KING EXPOSED Gilligan Wife's Cash Is from Crime Boss Troy Jordan Runs Debt Collection Firm with the Viper Foley Gardai: We Will Be There When He Slips Up
Newspaper article; Sunday Mirror (London, England), January 27, 2008
...Debt Collection Firm with the Viper Foley Gardai: We Will Be There...caught by gardai at an illegal pit-bull fight in Kildare in 2004...collection business called Viper Debt Recovery and Repossession...gangland figure Martin "The Viper" Foley. Foley, of Kimmage...
2.
Vipers Are Skating on Very Thin Ice as They Battle for Survival: Jaimie; Longmuir Pulls No Punches as He Spells out the Enormity of the Task: In Bid to Keep Top-Flight Ice Hockey on Tyneside
Newspaper article; Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), November 17, 2009
Vipers Are Skating on Very Thin Ice...Ice Hockey on Tyneside. THE Vipers of Newcastle, Elite League...almost certainly reveal if the Vipers have a future at all. Its that...long. Were not a bottomless pit financially. "Perhaps there...
3.
Pet Ban for Snake Pit Man
Newspaper article; Sunday Mirror (London, England), July 5, 2009
Subjects: Poisonous snakes
Pet Ban for Snake Pit Man. A MAN who almost died after being bitten by one of his...found scorpions venomous enough to kill humans, a gaboon viper, the most poisonous viper, and a spitting cobra among dozens of deadly animals. Thompson...
4.
Split Second Timing for Fastest Men in the World; PAIR TO PIT LAST YEAR'S DRAGSTER AGAINST JET CONTENDER FOR 300MPH RECORD
Newspaper article by Hayley Cuthbertson; Coventry Evening Telegraph (England), March 31, 2000
Split Second Timing for Fastest Men in the World; PAIR TO PIT LAST YEARS DRAGSTER AGAINST JET CONTENDER FOR 300MPH RECORD...The Split Second model, powered by a modified Rolls-Royce Viper engine, was designed and built by former engineer and grandfather...
5.
The Real King of the Jungle; Forget the Z-List Celebs. This Old-Fashioned Hero Is Defying Piranhas, Jaguars, Deadly Snakes and Hostile Natives to Become the First Man to Hack His Way through the Entire Amazon Jungle. He's Two Years In. and Has Just Reached the Hard Bit
Newspaper article; The Daily Mail (London, England), December 5, 2009
Subjects: Automobile industry, Celebrities
...like the celebs, but in the Amazon - the land of the pit viper and the jaguar, the narco-terrorist and the piranha...through the jungle when he saw a movement. It was a deadly pit viper, ready to strike. Ed backed off. Luckily, so did the...
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encyclopedia articles on: Pit Viper  - 8 results

       More encyclopedia Results: 1-8 >>  
 
1.
Pit Viper
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
PIT VIPER poisonous snake of the family...family. Like the Old World true vipers (family Viperidae), pit vipers have long, hollow...striking. In addition, the pit vipers have developed special...hunt. These organs consist of pits, for which the group is named...
2.
Viper
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...rarely fatal to humans. The asp viper, or asp ( V. aspis ), is...Europe. The greatest variety of vipers is found in Africa. The brightly patterned Gaboon viper, Bitis gabonica, is the longest of the vipers and has a body diameter of...whose bite is often fatal. The pit vipers of the Americas, including...
3.
Bushmaster
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...Central America and N South America. It is a member of the pit viper family, which also includes the rattlesnake. The largest...gray and brown, with a diamond pattern. Unlike most pit vipers, which bear live young, the bushmaster lays eggs...
4.
Rattlesnake
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...RATTLESNAKE poisonous New World snake of the pit viper family, distinguished by a rattle at the...other warm-blooded animals. Like other pit vipers, they have heat-sensitive organs in pits on the sides of the head, which help them...
5.
Snake , in Zoology
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...and sand boas. Most poisonous New World snakes belong to the pit viper family; these include the copperhead , water moccasin , rattlesnake...lance, and bushmaster . Venomous Old World snakes are the true vipers , including the adder and the asp , and members of the cobra...
More encyclopedia Results: 1-8 >>

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