📸 PhotoPhoto: Ｋｓ at Japanese Wikipedia / http://www.aikis.or.jp/~keisotyo/ · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Mamushi
Gloydius blomhoffii (Mamushi · ニホンマムシ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum length of 60 cm equals two 30 cm rulers placed end to end (Comparison).
- 💡 Kyoto Prefecture notes that because it is venomous, it is often driven away even when posing no harm to people, calling for conservation measures that take actual risk into account.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Mamushi (Nihon-mamushi) is a venomous snake endemic to Japan, living in diverse habitats such as rice paddies and forests from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its total length is 40–60 cm, with a row of dark oval blotches along the back and a pit between the nostril and eye.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on frogs and small mammals, and is active mostly at night though it also basks in the sun. Kyoto Prefecture notes that suitable paddy and forest habitats are shrinking due to residential development and farmland consolidation.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2018) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/192065/2035458
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 6KLBS
- • iucnredlist.org — 2035458
- • wikidata.org — Q1184903
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Mamushi togurosugata.jpg
- • pref.kyoto.jp — craw0012.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Beth Reinke · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Vipera berus)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.