Sexual dimorphism in venom of Bothrops jararaca(Serpentes: Viperidae)

Bothrops jararaca is an abundant snake in Brazil, and its venom has been studied exhaustively. The species exhibits adult size dimorphism in which female are larger. We registered the growth in Snout-Vent Length and weight of one litter (with 11 females and 12 males). We compared growth curves and v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Toxicon (Oxford) 2006-09, Vol.48 (4), p.401-410
Main Authors: Furtado, M.F.D., Travaglia-Cardoso, S.R., Rocha, M.M.T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Body Size
Bothrops - growth & development
Bothrops jararaca
Crotalid Venoms - analysis
Crotalid Venoms - toxicity
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Male
Mice
Muscle, Skeletal - drug effects
Muscle, Skeletal - pathology
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Reptilia. Amphibia
Sex Characteristics
Sexual dimorphism
Snake size growth
Venom
Vertebrata
Viperidae
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Summary:Bothrops jararaca is an abundant snake in Brazil, and its venom has been studied exhaustively. The species exhibits adult size dimorphism in which female are larger. We registered the growth in Snout-Vent Length and weight of one litter (with 11 females and 12 males). We compared growth curves and venom profile between male and female of B. jararaca in order to establish the relationship of those characters and sex. Their venoms were analyzed when they were 36 months old, concerning SDS PAGE, protein content, proteolytic, hyaluronidasic, phospholipasic, blood-clotting, edematogenic, hemorrhagic, myotoxic activities, and lethality. Differences in the growth curves of the females and the males were significantly different after the 12th month of age, with the females growing faster. Females produced five times more venom than males. The electrophoretic patterns were variable: the venom from males had more protein bands than females. Venom composition varied significantly between males and females. Venom from females is more potent for hyaluronidasic, hemorrhagic, and lethality activities, whereas venom from males is more potent for coagulant, phospholipasic, and myotoxic activities. The variability of proteolytic and edematogenic activities were not significant. The important sexual dimorphism in body size and mass, amount of venom produced, and venom composition in B. jararaca may reflect a divergence in niche partitioning.
ISSN:0041-0101
1879-3150
DOI:10.1016/j.toxicon.2006.06.005