Eastern green mamba

Eastern green mamba

The eastern green mamba is a highly venomous snake species of the mamba genus Dendroaspis. It has a slender build with bright green upperparts and yellow-green underparts. The adult female averages around 2 metres in length, and the male is slightly smaller. It preys on birds, eggs, bats, and rodents such as mice, rats, and gerbils.

About Eastern green mamba in brief

Summary Eastern green mambaThe eastern green mamba is a highly venomous snake species of the mamba genus Dendroaspis native to the coastal regions of southern East Africa. It has a slender build with bright green upperparts and yellow-green underparts. The adult female averages around 2 metres in length, and the male is slightly smaller. It preys on birds, eggs, bats, and rodents such as mice, rats, and gerbils. Its venom consists of both neurotoxins and cardiotoxins. Symptoms of envenomation include swelling of the bite site, dizziness and nausea, accompanied by difficulty breathing and swallowing, irregular heartbeat and convulsions progressing to respiratory paralysis. Other green snakes in southern Africa, including boomslangs and green busnakes, can be distinguished by their larger eyes and shorter heads. They are also venomous. The number and pattern of scales on a snake’s body are key element of identification to species level. Eastern green mambas have between 17 and 21 rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 201 to 232 ventral scales at the mid-body, 99 to 126 subcaudal scales, and a mouth lined with 7–9 supralabial eyes above the eye, located below the fourth eye. The inside of the mouth may be white or bluish-white, with a narrow golden or ochre edge.

Juveniles are blue-green, becoming bright green when they are around 75 centimetres long. The coffin-shaped head is long and slender with a prominent canthus which is slightly demarcated from the neck. When threatened or otherwise aroused, the eastern greenmamba is capable of flattening its neck area, though no real hood is formed. The medium-sized eyes have round pupils, the borders of which have a narrowGolden or o chre edge; the irises are olive green, become bright green posteriorly. The eyes are often confused with smaller green forms of the genus Philamnothus, which are also commonly mistaken with smaller busesnakes with smaller eyes. This species rarely exceeds lengths of 2. 5 metres. In general, the total length is 4–4. 3 times the length of the tail. The species is also frequently known as the common green mambo, East African green mampa, white-mouthed mamba, or simply the green mammal. It is also known as the green snake. It was first described as Naja angusticeps by Andrew Smith, a Scottish surgeon and zoologist, in 1849, who reported it from Natal and east to Maputo Bay.