Pit viper with horny segments at the end of the tail that rattle when shaken; SYN. rattler.
Any of various New World pit vipers of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus (the massasaugas and pygmy rattlers), distinguished by horny flat segments of the tail, which rattle when vibrated as a warning to attackers. They can grow to 2.5 m/8 ft long. The venom injected by some rattlesnakes can be fatal.
There are 31 species distributed from S Canada to central South America. The eastern diamondback (C. adamanteus), 0.9–2.5 m/2.8–8 ft long, is at home in the flat pinelands of the southern US. + prikaži više