Observation of Camel Spider (Galeodes sp.) and Indian Desert Gerbil (Meriones hurrianae) as prey of Sochurek’s Saw-Scaled Viper, Echis carinatus sochureki Stemmler 1969, from Rajasthan, India.
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: V ariation in snake venom has a variety of adaptive and non-adaptive processes that have contributed to its evolution (Casewell et al. 2013;Healy et al. 2019;Zancolli et al. 2019).Studies have shown that one of the processes that plays a key role is variation in diet (Arbuckle 2017; Davies and Arbuckle 2019).This is based on studies that have compared ontogenetic or geographic variation in venom composition that can be explained due to shifts in diet (Daltry et al. 1996;Creer et al. 2003;Gibbs et al. 2011;Davies and Arbuckle 2019;Smith et al. 2023).Saw-scaled Vipers (Echis spp.) are prime examples, with studies showing that species that are largely arthropod feeders are more toxic to naturally occurring prey (e.g., the Large-clawed Scorpion, Scorpio maurus) compared to other prey such as mice (Barlow et al. 2009;Richards et al. 2012).Knowledge of the natural diet, given that venom variation is especially significant in clinically important snakes, is crucial for understanding the composition of their venoms.The Sindh Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus sochureki), which occurs in the deserts of northwestern India and Middle Eastern Asia as far as the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, is one taxon about which little is known of its dietary diversity.
Source: Reptiles & Amphibians
Authors: Sourish Kuttalam, John Benjamin Owens, Priyanka Chaudhary, Jhamku, Akhilesh Kumar, Maya Gopalakrishnan, Anita Malhotra
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7077055869
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