FASCINATING FACT

Fer-de-who?

The infamous “Fer-de-lance” of Central and South America is known for being locally abundant, highly aggressive and holding the title of “most dangerous snake in South America.” Most people refer to Bothrops asper as the Fer-de-lance (although locally, it has various other names). In South America, some people also call Bothrops atrox, Fer-de-Lance.

In fact, even the most experienced herpetologists will use these common names without question. However, the French name “Fer-de-Lance” (meaning Iron Lance) is somewhat confusing,as there is only one French speaking country in South America, but Bothrops asper is not found there.

Instead, the name Fer-de-Lance is likely to refer to the species Bothrops lanceolatus which is found on Martinique, a French Caribbean island from which the name is thought to originate. This means, the fearsome, widely-spread “Fer-de-Lance” is a rarely-studied, Endangered species from the Lesser Antilles.