Differential Hematotoxic Activity of Southeast Asian Pit Viper Venoms: The Cross-Neutralizing Effect of Available Antivenoms

Posted by
  Image Credit: Creative Commons (some rights reserved) CC BY-NC Photo 111998430, (c) Nicholas Hess Differential Hematotoxic Activity of Southeast Asian Pit Viper Venoms: The Cross-Neutralizing Effect of Available Antivenoms Abstract Background/Objectives : Pit vipers (subfamily Crotalinae) are responsible for a large proportion of snakebite envenoming cases in Southeast Asia. Envenomation by these snakes commonly causes hematotoxic effects, including platelet dysfunction and coagulation disturbances. Although antivenom remains the mainstay of treatment, species-specific antivenoms are not available for several regional pit viper species. This study evaluated the hematotoxic activities of selected Southeast Asian pit viper venoms and the cross-neutralizing capacity of commercially available antivenoms.  Methods : Venoms from five medically important pit viper species— Calloselasma rhodostoma ,  Trimeresurus albolabris ,  T. hageni ,  T. purpureomaculatus , ...

A new Scorpio (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae) species from Northern Iraq

Posted by

 


A new Scorpio (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae) species from Northern Iraq

Abstract

Scorpio assyriacus sp. n., from northern Iraq is described illustrated and compared with all known species of the genus Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758, occurring in Turkey, the Middle East, and Iran. Aspects of the ecology and distribution of the new species are discussed and compared with those of other closely related Scorpio species from nearby localities in Turkey. The new species can be distinguished by its reduced number of pectinal teeth, the cardial-triangular configuration of the genital operculum (which is not posteriorly elongated in females), a more hirsute body, globular vesicle, flattened and discrete granules on the external surface of the chela manus, and significantly longer chela fingers compared to other species. With this discovery, the total number of documented scorpion species in Iraq has reached 23.


Yagmur, E. A., Kachel, H. S., Hussen, F. S., Al-Khazali, A. M., Ali, F. R., Al-Jubouri, M. A. K., Hamad, I. I., & Sdiq, A. B. (2025). A new Scorpio (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae) species from Northern Iraq. Zoodiversity, 60(1). https://doi.org/10.15407/zoo2026.01.001