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Arrows pointing to the pit organs are red; a black arrow points to the nostril. The ability to sense infrared thermal radiation evolved independently in three different groups of snakes, consisting of the families of Boidae (boas), Pythonidae (pythons), and the subfamily Crotalinae (pit vipers). What is commonly called a pit organ allows these ...
The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers, [2] [3] or pit adders, are a subfamily of vipers found in Asia and the Americas. Like all other vipers, they are venomous . They are distinguished by the presence of a heat-sensing pit organ located between the eye and the nostril on both sides of the head.
The generic name, Bothrops, comes from the Greek words bothros and ops, which mean 'pit' and 'face' (or 'eye'), respectively. This is a reference to these snakes' highly sensitive heat-detecting pit organs. The specific epithet, asper, which is a Latin word meaning 'rough' or 'harsh', may allude to the species' keeled dorsal scales. [8]
Bothrops is a genus of highly venomous pit vipers endemic to the Neotropics. [1] The generic name, Bothrops, is derived from the Greek words βόθρος, bothros, meaning ' pit ', and ὄψ, ops, meaning ' eye ' or ' face ', together an allusion to the heat-sensitive loreal pit organs.
Due to the small sizes of the pit openings, typically these thermal images are low in resolution and contrast. Nevertheless, rattlesnakes superimpose visual images created from information from the eyes with these thermal images from the pit organs to more accurately visualize their surroundings in low levels of light. [33]
A new snake species, the northern green anaconda, sits on a riverbank in the Amazon's Orinoco basin. “The size of these magnificent creatures was incredible," Fry said in a news release earlier ...
They possess facial pit organs which is a complex infrared-imaging system that allows accurate and precise strikes on potential prey. [31] Juveniles use a brightly colored tail to attract frogs and perhaps lizards, a behavior termed caudal luring (see video: ). Sight, odor, and heat detection are used in locating prey, although after the prey ...
The prairie rattlesnake group carries the distinctive triangle-shaped head and pit sensory organs on either side of the head. A key characteristic that can help differentiate a prairie rattlesnake from other rattlesnakes is the presence of two internasals contacting the rostral.