Background: The blunt-nosed viper Macrovipera lebetina (Linnaeus, 1758) is a medically
important snake species in the Middle East. Its nominate subspecies Macrovipera l. lebetina …

Snakes possess an elongated body form and serial placement of organs which provides the
opportunity to explore historic and adaptive mechanisms of organ position. We examined …

Background Gout is a metabolic disorder that results in hyperuricemia and the deposition of
positively birefringent monosodium urate crystals in various parts of the body. The purpose …

As snakes grow, their organs move anteriorly relative to body size. We explored a
developmental explanation for the ontogenetic shift in the relative position of internal organs …

The defensive behaviours of a group of freshly-caught central Asiatic cobras, Naja oxiana,
were evoked by the proximity of an experimenter. The cobras responded by hooding and …

Species use multiple defensive strategies aimed at different sensory systems depending on
the level of threat, type of predator and options for escape. The core cobra clade is a group …

Abstract Naja oxiana (the Central Asian cobra) is a species with an uncertain conservation
status that is rarely bred in captivity. Male Naja exhibit a dissociated breeding pattern, in …