Pit Viper

Pit vipers are venomous snakes having a pair of heat-sensing pits in the front of the head, and hollow erectile fangs used to transmit venom. These snakes characteristically have broad, lance-shaped heads and vertical pupils. Terrestrial species are typically stout-bodled and marked with patterns of brown, gray, yellow, pink or black; tree in color, with markings of yellow, red, or black. The pit vipers are closely related to the true vipers and are usually classified as a subfamily, Crotalinae, of the viper family, Viperidae.

The pit organ is located between the nostril and the eye on each side of the head. It is supplied with nerves and blood vessels and is partially enclosed in a cavity in the side of the maxillary, a bone of the upper jaw. The pit has a thermo receptor function and is sensitive to infrared radiation; it is capable of responding to change in temperature of only fraction of a degree. Thus pit vipers can detect the presence of animals with body temperatures only slightly different from that of the environment.

In North America, pit vipers are represented by about 31 species of Rattlesnae (genera Crotalus and Sistrurus) and by the Copperhead and Water Moccasin, or cottonmouth (Agkistrodon). The greatest diversity of pit vipers occur in Central and South America, with 2 or 3 species of Rattlesnake, about 60 species of lance-heads, such as the Fer-De-Lance (Bothrops), and the Bushmaster (Lachesis). In the Old World, pit vipers occur from the north Caspian region of Europe, across Asia to Japan and the Indonesian Archipelago.

Phalanger

Phalangers, family Phalangeridae, are a diverse group of arboreal Marsupial – mammals including the Cuscus and Koala whose name refers to the grasping ability of some of the finger and toe bones (phalangers), which enables the animals to climb tree. The phalangers are the most widely distributed of all marsupials, ranging from Australia and New Guinea to the Solomon Islands and parts of Indonesia. They have been introduced into New Zealand. Seventeen genera and about 42 species are known. Phalangers vary from 10 to 122 cm (4 to 48 in) in total length. Their mode of locomotion also varies greatly, from that of the slow moving koala to that of the gliding opossum. The fur is usually dense and woolly and is valuable in commerce. The tall is commonly long, though vestigial in the koala, and sometimes prehensile. Some genera have membranes fro gliding through the air. Most phalangers live in tree; a few inhabit plain areas.


The vulpine phalanger, or brush-tailed possum, is a small marsupial native to Australia. Highly adaptable, it lives in tress, caves, city parks and on the roots of houses.

Genus Phalanger
• Gebe Cuscus, Phalanger alexandrae
• Mountain Cuscus, Phalanger carmelitae
• Ground Cuscus, Phalanger gymnotis
• Eastern Common Cuscus, Phalanger intercastellanus
• Woodlark Cuscus, Phalanger lullulae
• Blue-eyed Cuscus, Phalanger matabiru
• Telefomin Cuscus, Phalanger matanim
• Southern Common Cuscus, Phalanger mimicus
• Northern Common Cuscus, Phalanger orientalis
• Ornate Cuscus, Phalanger ornatus
• Rothschild's Cuscus, Phalanger rothsschildi
• Silky Cuscus, Phalanger sericeus
• Stein's Cuscus, Phalanger vestitus

Frog in Madagascar

1. Under estimation" of Madagascar's natural riches, up to 221 new species of amphibians have been found on the island country, including the frog Boophis ulftunni, pictured. The find nearly doubles the number of known amphibians in Madagascar, a new study says. An international team of scientists discovered the new species after collecting 2,850 specimens from more than 170 sites, including the country's most visited and studied national parks. The work suggests that tropical amphibian diversity has been underestimated at an "unprecedented level" worldwide, the study authors write in the May 4 online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
   
2. This frog in the Boophis genus was among more than 200 new species of amphibian discovered in Madagascar, one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet, experts said in May 2009. In the previous 15 years, scientists had found more than a hundred new frog species in the island country, "which led us to believe that our species inventory is almost complete," team member Frank Glaw, herpetology curator at Munich's Zoologische Staatssammlung, said in a statement.
3. Amphibian patterns of diversity, especially in the tropics, are not well understood, mainly because of incomplete information on species classification and distribution. In May 2009, for example, researchers unexpectedly found more than 200 new amphibian species in Madagascar, including the newly identified frog in the Boophis genus pictured above.
4. Rampant habitat destruction in Madagascar may be affecting more species than previously thought, both among amphibians (above, a newfound frog species in the Boophis genus) and other kinds of animals, experts said in May 2009. The deforestation rate in Madagascar is one of the highest on the planet, with more than 80 percent of the island's forests already lost. Other similar of frog look in Toads and see what is the different.