No. 0428 / 1 402

South American bushmaster

Lachesis muta

名前について： Its scientific name comes from Lachesis, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology, and muta, Latin for "dumb" or "mute", because it has no rattle.1

命をうばうこともある治療しないと命にかかわる。かまれたら、急いで助けを呼ぼう。

マムシのなかま（ピットバイパー）

かむ食べもの：肉

人への危険: とても危険治療を受けないと、人の命をうばうことがある。

The South American bushmaster is one of the longest vipers in the world, and it is the longest venomous snake in the Western Hemisphere. It lives in the equatorial forests east of the Andes and on the island of Trinidad. Its bite is dangerous, so it is important to know what it looks like.1

すんでいる場所

South America, in equatorial forests east of the Andes, and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean1

南アメリカ

ホーム

It lives in primary and secondary forests and in nearby fields and cleared areas. In Trinidad it tends to prefer hilly and mountainous regions. In Ilhéus, Brazil, a child was bitten after stepping on one on the way out of a house.1

長さ

2 mから3.6 m (6.6 ftから12 ft)1

体重

3 kgから5 kg (6.6 lbから11 lb)1

最高速度

時速約5.1 km（時速3.2マイル）

陸で, おおまかな予想

何を食べるの？

It eats mainly rats and mice. Birds and reptiles are sometimes eaten. Spiny rats are favoured prey in Costa Rica, and rice rats and agoutis are other favourites. It also eats porcupines, squirrels, opossums, squirrel monkeys and frogs.1

South American bushmasterの写真 — South American bushmaster。写真：Christopher Murray。 Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

見分け方

Its ground colour is yellowish, reddish or grey-brown.1
Dark brown or black blotches run along the body, forming inverted triangles on the sides.1
Adults are usually 2 to 2.5 m long, and 3 m is not unusual.1
The head is broad and clearly separate from the narrow neck.1
The tail is short and ends in a spine. When alarmed it vibrates the tail, which makes a loud rustling in undergrowth.1

よくまちがえられるのは： It is similar in appearance to rattlesnakes. It has no rattle, so its tail vibration sounds like rustling leaves rather than a rattle.1

毒パワー

かむ

かむときに、毒が牙や歯から出るよ。

その毒（かむ・刺す毒）はどうなるの？

Its venom breaks down tissue, stops blood from clotting, and can cause bleeding. It also has effects on the nerves. At the bite there is pain, swelling, bruising, blisters and skin death. Whole-body effects include low blood pressure, dizziness, vision problems, a slow heartbeat, vomiting, diarrhoea and kidney failure.1

人にとってどれくらい危険？

人への危険: とても危険治療を受けないと、人の命をうばうことがある。

Its bites are often fatal. Lab tests show its venom is weak, but the mortality rate of bite victims is high. In reported cases, a 7-year-old boy in Brazil died about 15 minutes after being bitten, and a 5-year-old child in Mato Grosso went into shock about 30 minutes after a bite and died within 90 minutes.1