Case solved: presence of toxin-secreting oral glands in the lamprophiid snake Mimophis mahfalensis (Grandidier, 1867) from Madagascar

摘要

The monotypic Mimophis mahfalensis is an opisthoglyphous snake endemic of Madagascar. The goal of this study is to clarify the presence of toxin-secreting oral glands through a multidisciplinary approach. We thus provide data on the internal anatomy of the head of M. mahfalensis' and demonstrate the presence of Duvernoy's glands. Furthermore, we refer to two cases of human bitten by this species and compared this with the reported case of mild envenomation mentioned by Domergue (Arch Inst Pasteur Madagascar 56(1):299-311, 1989). Symptoms included brief slight local pain and minor bleeding