Gobi Viper
Ashlie Mealey
Gloydius intermedius, or Central Asian pit viper, is a venomous species of pitviper endemic to northern Asia. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.[2]
The color pattern is variable, but generally consists of 28-45 dark subquadrate dorsal blotches or crossbands that usually extend down the flanks as far as the first or second scale rows. Between these blotches are irregular light areas. A dark brown to black postorbital stripe is present, extending from the eye back to the angle of the jaw, outlined by a light line above, and by cream-colored supralabial scales below.[3]
The Central Asian pit viper, with a cadre of closely related and widely distributed subspecies and species, has raised considerable confusion about its taxonomic classification. The snake has "been the subject of considerable taxonomic instability..." as one authority said.
It varies in pattern and color within the specific species. According to some sources, it attacks aggressively, posing a serious danger. According to others, it withdraws timidly, posing little danger. Its venom composition may vary with its locality -- highly toxic according to some, mildly toxic according to others -- posing problems in designing treatment for bites. It has several different common names, for instance, Central Asian viper, Asiatic pit viper, Mongolian pit viper, mamushi and Amur viper, and it also has several different scientific names, for instance, Trigonocephalus intermedius, Ancistrodon intermedius and Haly intermedia. The snake comes with uncertainty in its characterization.
The Central Asian pit viper bears a taxonomic relationship at the family (Viperidae) level with the new world copperhead, the cottonmouth water moccasin and the cantil viper as well as the Siberian pit viper, the Malayan pit vipers and others. Each of these species is distinguished by a heat-sensing pit on each side of its head, between the eye and the nostril. The pit functions as a thermoreceptor, which serves to convey differences in temperatures.
The Central Asian pit viper occurs across a vast range, extending from the Caspian Sea east-northeastward to the Gobi Desert and from northern Iran and Afghanistan northward to southern Russia. It favors rocky grasslands, scrublands and open woodlands, said the Armed Forces Pest Management Board's Living Hazards Database. It "Feeds primarily on rodents, lizards, frogs and large insects," according to Clinical Toxinology Resources. It also likely preys on birds.
Given the limited research, the snake raises many questions about its behavior and life cycle. It does, however, seem reasonable that it would follow the model of close relatives within the Viperidae family.
The Central Asian pit viper would likely stay active throughout the day, except in hot weather, when it would become most active around twilight, say some sources. Conversely, it hunts mainly at night, according to Michael Allaby, "Biomes of the Earth: Grasslands." It travels with a sidewinding motion, much like that of the American Southwest's sidewinder rattlesnake. It may ambush prey from a low-lying shrub. If harassed, it may become aggressive, flattening its body against the earth and vibrating its tail in warning preparatory to striking. Otherwise, the snake would behave fairly listlessly.
The snake's courtship behavior seems to be little known, but the female, ovoviviparous, hatches her eggs inside her body, producing, once a year, a litter of some three to twelve, several-inch-long live young. The young Central Asian pit viper, able to feed and defend itself from the start, would mature sexually within a few years. It would breed in the spring or fall. It might live for ten to twenty years.
When it strikes, the Central Asian pit viper, like its Viperidae kin, opens it mouth nearly 180 degrees, with it fangs projected forward. When it drives home its fangs, it uses specialized muscles to express the venom glands, controlling the amount of venom it injects. It immediately withdraws, prepared to strike again.
According to a study by Shaanxi Normal University graduate students in 2007, the Central Asian pit viper is "the most toxic pit-viper species usually seen in northwest China and part of north China, and it is responsible for the most snakebite accidents in these area[s]." By comparison, said the Armed Forces Pest Management Board, "Not much is known," about the snake's venom, and the snake has inflicted no "confirmed fatalities."
In all likelihood, the snake's venom comprises a cocktail of dozens of proteins and enzymes, a few of them toxic. Likely, said the AFPMB, the venom is both neurotoxic, attacking the nervous system swiftly, and hemotoxic, attacking the cardiovascular system more slowly.
The snake's victims will experience pain, swelling and, possibly, rapid or irregular heartbeat. They may also, said Adrienne B. Ari, Military Medicine, exhibit "the following symptoms: difficulty seeing, seeing double, difficulty in opening the mouth, speaking, and swallowing, and difficulty getting out of bed the morning after the bite," all an indication of the beginning of muscle paralysis. Additionally, suggests Sean P. Bush, MD, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, the victim may experience bleeding into the tissues surrounding the bite. Unfortunately, as the AFPMB said, there is "no known specific antivenom currently available."
The viper's venom, with its wide variety of chemical compounds, has "potential use [in the] medical field," said the Shaanxi Normal University graduate students. Components might, for instance, be extracted for use in thinning blood and dissolving blood clots -- an important part of the treatment for stroke victims or for potential stroke or heart attack victims. Snake venom components have already been extracted for use in treating blood disorders in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
The central Asian pit viper (Gloydius intermedius) is endemic to the Gobi Desert, meaning this snake is found nowhere else in the world. It's a medium-sized pit viper, reaching about 31 feet. It has a stout body shape. There have been no confirmed fatalities, but there is also no known antivenin to this snake's bite. This snake is rare and not very well documented. Most of what is known about the central Asian pit viper is conjectured from its relative, the more widespread G. blomhoffi.
Haly's pit viper (Gloydius halys) is also known as the Gobi pit viper, since it too is endemic to this desert. Adults range from 20 to 28 inches typically, though individuals have been found measuring three feet in length. Like all vipers, it's venomous. This species has a hemotoxic venomous, that also has neurotoxic effects. This means that this species's venom kills by acting against the blood and nervous system. Still, human deaths from this species are rare.
The European adder (Vipera berus) is not endemic to the Gobi. This species is widespread from Europe to Japan. It's also unusually cold-tolerant for a snake. In the northernmost parts of its range, it's been seen crawling over snow. It's venomous, but the bite is very rarely fatal to humans. The average adult reaches 22 inches, but some specimens reach three feet in length.
The steppe rat snake (Elaphe dione) lives in the Amur River Basin. This is technically just outside of the Gobi Desert, but the snake still lives in the general area. This species lives across a wide range, including much of northern Asia. As such, its common names include the Siberian rat snake, the Russian rat snake and the Korean rat snake. It prefers moist habitats and is nonvenomous.
However, although the Gobi Desert is the largest desert in Asia, occupying an area of 1,300,000 square km, and has a harsh climate, it still hosts a significant diversity of species. The animals inhabiting the Gobi Desert are well-adapted to survive in the extreme desert climate. Some of the iconic species living in the Gobi Desert are the snow leopard, black-tailed gazelle, Gobi viper, jerboa, Gobi bear, Gobi ibex, wild Bactrian camel, and more. Here we list the animals living in the Gobi Desert.
The jerboas are hopping desert rodents that live throughout parts of Northern Africa and Asia, and are also found in the Gobi Desert. The jerboa prefers to inhabit hot desert habitats. These animals are fast runners and can run when chased at up to 24 km per hour. Jerboas also possess a strong sense of hearing. These animals eat plants, beetles, insects, etc.
The Gobi pit viper (G. i. stejnegeri) is a venomous subspecies of the Central Asian pit viper Gloydius intermedius. The Gobi pit viper can be sighted at the edges of the Gobi Desert. The range of this snake stretches from the southeastern parts of Inner Mongolia into China.
Another iconic animal of the Gobi Desert is the wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus). These camels are large, even-toed ungulates which live in the central Asian steppes and are characterized by a double hump. These camels were thought to have descended from the domestic camels that escaped to establish feral populations. However, recent scientific research has suggested that wild Bactrian camels diverged as a separate species long before domestication. Today, these wild animals have a very restricted range in the wild, remote parts of the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts. These camels wander for long distances in groups of 2 to 15 members or even more. The wild Bactrian camels are a critically endangered species today, and only about 1,400 individuals remain in the wild today. Hunting, poaching, wolf attacks, hybridization with domestic camels are the factors catalyzing the disappearance of the Bactrian camels.
The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the most notable birds that can be viewed soaring in the sky above the Gobi Desert. The bird of prey build nests at high altitudes in the desert, and feeds on the rodents and other small mammals, reptiles, etc., living in the desert.
The Mongolian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemionus) is found in northern China and Mongolia. The animal is a herbivore which can live on the sparse vegetation found in the arid habitat of the Gobi Desert. The Mongolian wild ass was recorded as a Near Threatened species by the IUCN in 2015, and about 23,000 mature individuals are estimated to live in the wild. Poaching and competition for food offered by grazing livestock are the two biggest threats to the Mongolian wild ass population.
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