The Malayan pit viper is a stout, irritable Southeast Asian ambush hunter responsible for many bites in Thai and Vietnamese plantations.
Description
The Malayan pit viper is a thick-bodied snake under a metre long with reddish-brown ground colour and dark brown triangular blotches that meet along the spine to form Xs. The triangular head is sharply set off from the neck, and heat-sensing pits sit between the eye and nostril on each side.
Behavior
Mostly nocturnal but easily disturbed during the day, this pit viper strikes from leaf litter with little warning when stepped on. The hemotoxic venom contains an anticoagulant, ancrod, that has been studied as a stroke and clot-dissolving drug. Bites are common in rural Southeast Asia.
Range
Distributed across mainland Southeast Asia from Myanmar to Vietnam and south through peninsular Malaysia and parts of Java. Plantation expansion has helped the species spread, though it is now reduced where leaf litter and rodent prey are removed.
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