Amblyomma rotundatum is an ixodid tick that infests ectothermic animals and reproduces exclusively by parthenogenesis. This tick has been frequently reported to infest reptiles and amphibians, under natural conditions and sometimes in captivity. It was described in Brazil and several other countries of South, Central and North America. Although many studies have reported aspects of its biology,...

ilam province in southwest iran possesses varied climatic and geographical conditions leading to rich biodiversity. an investigating of the status of snakes in the province was carried out from june 2005 to march 2010. a total of 103 specimens were collected and identified. six families, 20 genera, and 26 species are represented, including boidae: eryx (eryx) jaculus turcicus; colubridae: colub...

Viper venoms from the Elapidae, Hydrophiidae, Atractaspididae, Viperidae and Colubridae families contain at least 25 separate classes of biologically active compounds [1]. Nomenclature standardization of these molecules by structure and function have been reported for prothrombin activators [2; 3]. No such agreement has been made for the nomenclature and classification of disintegrins which, fo...

Bacterial infections involving multidrug-resistant strains are one of the ten leading causes of death and an important health problem in need for new antibacterial sources and agents. Herein, we tested and compared four snake venoms (Agkistrodon rhodostoma, Bothrops jararaca, B. atrox and Lachesis muta) against 10 Gram-positive and Gram-negative drug-resistant clinical bacteria strains to ident...

We infer the phylogeography of the Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) using phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences from 1345 bp of the genes for cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4. Two main clades are revealed: one includes populations from east and south of the Rocky Mountains (conventionally referred to as Crotalus viridis viridis and C. v. nuntius), and the other...