In a unique discovery, a poisonous snake was found with three extremely sharp fangs, instead of the usual two.
“This is something we’ve never seen before,” Billy Collett, manager of the Australian Reptile Park, where the snake lives, told Live Science in an email. “This deadly viper has been in our venom control program for about seven years, but it was only recently that we noticed the third fang. I thought it would fall out over time, but a year later it’s still there!”
The third fang, located next to one of the other two on the left side of the snake's mouth, also produces venom. This means it has much more venom than normal snakes, making it even more dangerous.
The three-fanged snake is milked for its venom. This snake produces more venom than other deadly vipers.
The extremely rare snake is “possibly the most dangerous viper on the planet,” Collett said in a video interview. The extra fang is the result of a previously undocumented mutation, the report said.
Death adders (Acanthophis) are a group of venomous snakes native to Australia and New Guinea. They have one of the fastest bites of any snake, with some species capable of biting and injecting venom from their fangs in less than 0.15 seconds. Their venom contains neurotoxins that can cause paralysis and even death if left untreated. Before the advent of antivenom, about 50% of death adder bites were fatal.
This snake is part of the Australian Reptile Park's antivenom program and its extremely rare extra fang was discovered while milking for venom. The process involves gently squeezing the snake's venom glands while it bites into a collection container, allowing the venom to flow into a vial.
The snake has two fangs on the left side of its mouth. Deadly vipers with three fangs are very rare.
This three-fanged death adder has been found to produce significantly more venom than normal, with “high yields” from all three fangs. It produces about twice as much venom as the two-fanged viper, although it is unclear whether this is due to the extra fang or if this individual simply produces a lot of venom.
A park spokesperson told Live Science via email that this is the first three-fanged snake ever found at the Australian Reptile Park, which has been operating for 20 years and has captured hundreds of thousands of snakes.
“Other snakes with three fangs have been recorded in Australia, but to our knowledge, three-fanged deadly snakes have not been documented,” he added.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
