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| blackmamba24
February 27, 2010
6:15:05 PM
Entry #: 3402709
| Mambas, of the genus Dendroaspis, are fast-moving land-dwelling snakes of Africa. ("Dendroaspis" is literally "tree snake".) They belong to the family of Elapidae which includes cobras, coral snakes, kraits and, debatably, sea snakes although these are now classed as Hydrophiidae, all of which can be highly deadly. The black mamba (D. polylepis) is the longest venomous snake in Africa, with a potent neurotoxic venom that attacks the nervous system, and cardiotoxins which attack the heart the bite is often fatal to humans without access to proper first aid and subsequent antivenom treatment, because it shuts down the lungs and heart. Prior to the availability of antivenom, envenomations by members of this genus carried a high fatality rate.
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