Vipern führten im Vergleich von 36 Giftschlangen aus drei Familien die schnellsten Angriffe aus, berichten Forscher im Journal of Experimental Biology

>Some vipers are the sprinters of snakes.

>Vipers [wielded the fastest attacks](https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-lookup/doi/10.1242/jeb.250347) in a comparison of 36 venomous snakes from three families, researchers report October 23 in *Journal of Experimental Biology*. And the quickest vipers tend to be ambush predators and feed on mammals. The terciopelo (*Bothrops asper*) — a viper found from eastern Mexico to northern South America that feeds on birds and rodents — came out on top with an average peak velocity of 3.5 meters per second.

>“They are the ones that have to be able to strike as quickly as possible,” says Alistair Evans, a zoologist at Monash University in Melbourne. It typically takes mammals between 60 to 400 milliseconds to react and [jump away from an attack](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/watch-desert-kangaroo-rat-drop-kick-rattlesnake), making speed crucial. Large snakes also tend to be faster because, like sprinters, they have more muscle.

>Previous studies analyzing snake speed typically relied on a single camera or one with low resolution. Others focused on [just a few species](https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/plain-ol-texas-rat-snakes-basically-match-vipers-speed). The new study includes 31 vipers, four snakes from the elapid family (which includes cobras), and one colubrid, representing the largest snake family that includes the nonvenomous common garter snake (*Thamnophis sirtalis*).

[Read more here](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/venomous-snakes-strike-fast-vipers) and the [research article here](https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/228/20/jeb250347/369412/Kinematics-of-strikes-in-venomous-snakes).