Hi Matt!!! Nice to see you in this forum
Like you, I think the huge Malpolon is a female. And yes, in european individuals the bigest sizes for females are 100-130cm max. And in north africa I have no info of bigest sizes in females (Schleich et al., (1996) said usually this species (males & females) reaching 2meters). And Michel Aymerich found a male (I guess) about 2,05m:
http://www.sahara-vivant.com/Circuit-Ag ... ra-DE.htmlThe answer I think is in Guelmim-Tarfaya. There snakes eat many fat rats (Psammomys obesus) and big mammals that are very common and snakes reach amazing sizes and there are records of Naja haje of more than 2 meters, Bitis and Daboia like monsters, Malpolon huge. Even I found this trip a DOR Malpolon moilensis about 100-110cm. The Hemorrhois hippocrepis in this areas are huge too. In a nocturnal expedition in a sand area between Guelmim and Tantan I found about 150-200 tracks of mammals, many of them actived. The densitity of preys is incredible so this should explain the big size of the snakes and the high density of snakes although they die in roads, fallen in pools, captured or killed by local people......
About the video of Hemorrhois, good answer Jeroen, and maybe is a H. hippocrepis. The horshoe mark is a characteristic of hippocrepis. The problem is that in Morocco there are individuals with round spots in algirus (and another with the typical trasversal lines, sometimes with the head with dark colour). The spots are round coloured by a white colour that I´ve never seen in hippocrepis, and the grey colour of the end is very "algirus", althouth some hippocrepis could have this colour. The head of the snake of the video seems very thin (probably with supralabials in contact with the eyes; algirus). But this horseshoe mark is too clear (hippocrepis). And when this is not totally clear, we have to think in the intermodal individuals algirus x hippocrepis very common in south Morocco. So this is a caos. In this "algirus", we can see a smooth horshoe mark...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrimtnez ... 578413421/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrimtnez ... 578413421/Then the female Malpolon of Agadir probably ate a subadult Daboia mauritanica. Although the skin of the Daboia was not perfect and I didn´t find the head so maybe it was a Natrix maura. I found close there a DOR Daboia and there was not water in kilometers but Natrix usually appear in everyplaces, so this Daboia/NAtrix (We will never know it) was probably eaten by Malpolon. Interesting things... Jeroen you should visit north Africa soon
Yes Jurgen, A dying moilensis is not good. I need a big individual spreading his neck like a cobra!!! This is a real moilensis!! Very common in Morocco, but this is my first snake "alive", and about 12 or more dead. About Cerastes vipera, guy told me in last days he prefers Cerastes cerastes of Israel than Morocco. And it´s true, except some mutila very cool
http://www.sahara-vivant.com/Photo-Cera ... es-02.htmlThe moroccan Cerastes cerastes are not very nice. Anyway the morph/ssp. mutila is different to all the another Cerastes in Sahara and then is "special". In future studies we could maybe discover this morph is a different subspecies (usually hornless, redish coloration, no contrast in design/unicoloured, white end of the tongue, rocky habitat selection...) or not...
But about Cerastes vipera, I have to say, the "coastal Morocco morph" are the
most cool of the world. The design is simply awesome!!! Jurgen when will you visit Morocco?????
Post data: Lionel Messi should leave the grew-up pills and begin to eat 2 or 3 Psammomys by day XD.
Thanks guys for your comments!
I would be my dream.