Temple viper
The Tropidolaemus Wagleri, more commonly known as the Wagler's Pit Viper, is a species of venomous snake, a pitviper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid. It is sometimes referred to as the temple viper because of its abundance around the Temple of the Azure Cloud in Malaysia.
The Wagler's pit viper is a venomous snake native to Southeast Asia. The females are larger than the males and their bodies are black with yellow stripes. Males have large triangular-shaped heads, with relatively thin green bodies. These snakes are found in a wide variety of colors and patterns, often referred to as "phases". In the past, some researchers classified the different phases as subspecies. The phases vary greatly from having a black or brown coloration as a base, with orange and yellow banding, to others having a light green as the base color, with yellow or orange banding, and many variations therein.
Wagler's pit vipers are found in southern Vietnam from the provinces of Minh Hai and Song Be, in southern Thailand in the provinces of Phang Nga, Phuket, Pattani, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Tammarat, Narathiwat, and Yala. They are probably distributed throughout the Peninsula in west Malaysia, as well as the island of Penang, in Singapore, and in Indonesia on Sumatra, the islands of the Riau Archipelago, Bangka, Billiton, Nias, the Mentawai Islands (Siberut), Natuna, and Karimata. These snakes are almost always found near water. They prefer wet forests, mangroves, marshes, and swamps.
Wagler’s pit vipers are solitary creatures. They are almost entirely arboreal, and their tails are prehensile to aid in climbing. They are active during the night and are quite sluggish in their nature; they remain motionless for long periods of time waiting for prey to pass by. When prey does pass by, or if disturbed, Wagler’s pit vipers can strike quickly. To detect potential prey, they use pits, one on each side of their heads between the eye and the nostril; these pits are capable of detecting temperature differences of as little as 0.003 of a degree Celsius (0.0054 of a degree Fahrenheit).
The venom of the Wagler's Pit Viper contains four novel peptides (Waglerins 1-4). The Waglerins produce fatal respiratory paralysis of adult mice. An initial study indicated that micromolar concentrations of Waglerin 1 act both pre- and postsynaptically to inhibit transmission across rat neuromuscular junctions. However, Waglerin-1 is a more potent inhibitor of transmission across the mouse neuromuscular junction. A subsequent study demonstrated that Waglerin-1 inhibited the adult mouse endplate response to acetylcholine with an IC50 of 50 nanomolar. In striking contrast, transmission across neuromuscular junctions of neonatal or transgenic mice lacking the adult acetylcholine receptor was not altered by micromolar concentrations of Waglerin-1. Biochemical studies demonstrated that the exquisite selectivity of Waglerin-1 for the adult mouse acetylcholine receptor relies upon several amino acid residues unique to the epsilon subunit of the adult mouse acetylcholine receptor. Waglerin-1's selectivity for the epsilon-subunit containing acetylcholine receptor of adult mice is complemented by selectivity of small peptide toxins purified from the venom of Conus geographus and Conus pergrandis for the gamma-subunit containing acetylcholine receptor of neonatal skeletal muscle. The Waglerins and complementary conotoxins are useful tools to discover the contribution of acetylcholine receptor subunits to synaptogenesis. In addition, study of the Waglerins and related toxic peptides may lead to the discovery of novel molecular targets for drug development. While Waglerin-1 interacts with other members of the ligand-gated superfamily of ion channels, the potency is much less than for inhibition of the adult mouse muscle acetylcholine receptor. Structural study suggests that Waglerin-1 may undergo molecular rearrangement that allows for binding to multiple receptors. The actions of Waglerin-1 reverse upon removal of the peptide.
Waglerin-1 is included in some skin creams marketed as wrinkle removers. There is no scientific evidence supporting the manufacturers' suggestion that the Waglerin-1 included in their products relaxes wrinkle producing skeletal muscles.
Wagler's pit vipers are carnivores. Their diet consists mainly of rodents, birds, and lizards.
Mature females of this species bear live young by ovoviviparity. Litter size varies from 15 to 41 live young that are born fully developed.
Wagler’s pit vipers are not threatened at present but they are illegally collected for the international pet trade.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Wagler’s pit viper total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Control (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.
