Boomslang

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For other uses, see Boomslang (disambiguation).

iBoomslang

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Dispholidus
Species:	D. typus

Binomial name

Dispholidus typus
(Smith, 1829)

A boomslang, Dispholidus typus is a large, venomous colubrid snake native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only species in its genus. Its name means "tree snake" in Afrikaans and Dutch.

1 Description
2 Behavior & diet
3 Venom
4 Boomslang in fiction
5 External links

[edit] Description

Females usually retain a brown colour, whereas males are highly variable, ranging from black to bright green. Adults may exceed 1.8m (about 6ft) in length. They have a short, blunt nose and large eyes.

[edit] Behavior & diet

Boomslangs are largely arboreal, are very fast moving, and are oviparous. Their diet includes chameleons and other arboreal lizards, frogs, and occasionally small mammals, birds and eggs from nesting birds, which they swallow whole.

[edit] Venom

Most members of their family are harmless, or have relatively weak venom, but the boomslang is an exception. It has a highly potent venom which it delivers through large fangs that are located in the rear of the jaw. The venom of the boomslang is primarily a haemotoxin. It disables blood clotting process and the victim often dies out of numerous internal and external bleedings. Other symptoms include: headache, nausea, sleepiness and mental disorders. Being a relatively slow-acting venom, the symptoms may occur many hours after the bite. On one hand, this provides time for arranging the serum, while on the other hand it may lead victims to underestimate the bite (especially when, as with other snakes, not every bite injects venom).

An adult snake has 4-8 mg of venom. 5 mg is said to be enough to kill a man.

In 1957, well known herpetologist, Karl Schmidt died after being bitten by a boomslang. D.S. Chapman states that between 1919 and 1962 there were eight serious human envenomations by boomslangs, two of which were fatal. The South African Vaccine Producers (formerly South African Institute of Medical Research) manufactures a monovalent antivenom for boomslang venom.

The boomslang is a timid snake, and bites generally occur only while attempting to handle, catch or kill the snake.

[edit] Boomslang in fiction

Shredded skin of a boomslang is one of the ingredients to make the Polyjuice Potion in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The poison of the Boomslang snake also features in the Agatha Christie thriller, Death in the Clouds (pub.1935), featuring her famous detective, Hercule Poirot.

In Stephen King's short story, "Autopsy Room Four", the main character is bitten by a fictional snake called a Peruvian Boomslang. King says he got the name from Death in the Clouds, mentioned above.

A distillation of boomslang venom is combined with dimethyl sulfoxide to create a contact poison that is the murder weapon in an episode of Quincy, ME.

A character named Boomslang is a Marvel Comics supervillain.