Ignazio Avella

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• PhD
• Principal Investigator at University of Giessen

Snakebites in Europe are mostly due to bites from Viperidae species of the genus Vipera. This represents a neglected public health hazard with poorly defined incidence, morbidity and mortality. In Europe, fourteen species of “true vipers” (subfamily Viperinae) are present, eleven of which belong to the genus Vipera. Amongst these, the main medicall...

Venom spitting is a defence mechanism based on airborne venom delivery used by a number of different African and Asian elapid snake species ('spitting cobras'; Naja spp. and Hemachatus spp.). Adaptations underpinning venom spitting have been studied extensively at both behavioural and morphological level in cobras, but the role of the physical prop...

Lataste's viper (Vipera latastei) is a venomous European viper endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, recognised as medically important by the World Health Organization. To date, no comprehensive characterisation of this species' venom has been reported. Here, we analysed the venoms of juvenile and adult specimens of V. latastei from two environmentally...

Introduction: Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease and a globally important driver of death and morbidity. Vipers of the genus Macrovipera (Viperidae: Viperinae) are among the snakes of higher medical importance in the Old World. Despite the medical relevance of Macrovipera venoms, the knowledge regarding them is heterogeneously distributed wi...

Citation: Baradaran, M.; Salabi, F.; Mahdavinia, M.; Mohammadi, E.; Vazirianzadeh, B.; Avella, I.; Kazemi, S.M.; Lüddecke, T. ScorpDb: A Novel Open-Access Database for Integrative Scorpion Toxinology. Toxins 2024, 16, 497. https://doi. Abstract: Scorpion stings are a significant public health concern globally, particularly in tropical and subtropic...

“True” cobras (genus Naja) are among the venomous snakes most frequently involved in snakebite accidents in Africa and Asia. The Cape cobra (Naja nivea) is one of the African cobras of highest medical importance, but much remains to be learned about its venom. Here, we used a shotgun proteomics approach to better understand the qualitative composit...

Non-front-fanged snakes (NFFS) have long been overlooked by snake venom research, likely due to most of them being considered non-medically relevant for humans. The paucity of information about composition and activities of NFFS venoms and oral secretions makes it difficult to assess whether a given species can inflict medically significant bites....

Snakebite primarily impacts rural communities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The sharp-nosed viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) is among the snakes of highest medical importance in Asia. Despite various studies on its venom using modern venomics techniques, a comprehensive understanding of composition and function of this species' venom remains la...

Spiders are ancient and highly successful predators, which use venom for both predation and defense. Their venoms are complex mixtures of potent biological molecules, emerging as a prolific source of biomolecular innovation in agriculture, biomedicine, and bioeconomy. While small cysteine-rich neurotoxins are typically considered the main component...

Scorpion sting is a medical burden globally but especially frequent hotspots of scorpion biodiversity. In Iran, one of those hotspot countries, many fatalities occur in the South as well as the Southwest and are thought to be caused by Hemiscorpius lepturus. Accordingly, those are used for antivenom production. However, recent surveys revealed that...

The genus Vipera encompasses most species of medically significant venomous snakes of Europe, with Italy harbouring four of them. Envenomation by European vipers can result in severe consequences, but underreporting and the absence of standardised clinical protocols hinder effective snakebite management. This study provides an updated, detailed set...

Although extensive research has been conducted on snake venoms, the effects of bites inflicted by non-front-fanged colubroid snakes remain incompletely understood, particularly for species of uncertain medical relevance. The Western Whipsnake (Hierophis viridiflavus) is a colubrid snake typically classified as non-venomous and harmless to humans. N...

We report a new country record and a considerable range extension of the Barinas smooth snake, Erythrolamprus dorsocorallinus, in Guyana. Previously, the species had only been reported in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and the western Brazilian Amazonia. Our observation adds E. dorsocorallinus to the faunal list of Guyana and suggests that thi...

European vipers (genus Vipera) are medically important snakes displaying considerable venom variation, occurring at different levels in this group. The presence of intraspecific venom variation, however, remains understudied in several Vipera species. Vipera seoanei is a venomous snake endemic to the northern Iberian Peninsula and south-western Fra...

Europe presents a high number of venomous and poisonous animals able to elicit medically relevant symptoms in humans. However, since most of the accidents involving venomous or poisonous animals in Europe are unreported, their incidence and morbidity are severely overlooked. Here we provide an overview of the European vertebrate species of greatest...

Climate change is drastically affecting the distribution patterns of species all over the world. In Morocco, the High Atlas Mountains are home to several species of specialist reptiles adapted to cold climates, many of which endemic and located in high-elevation areas, as well as generalist species located at medium or low altitude. In this note we...

Biases in snake venom research have been partially identified but seldomly quantified. Using the Google Scholar web search engine, we collected a total of 267 articles published between 1964 and 2021, and reviewed them to assess the main trends in this field of study. We developed a 4-category classification of the harmful potential of each of the...

The Milos viper (Macrovipera schweizeri) is an endangered species restricted to the western side of the Cyclades archipelago, endemic to the islands of Kimolos, Milos, Polýaigos and Sifnos. This threatened viper has been at the centre of several studies aimed to better understand its peculiar biology and ecology. Through the extensive analysis of t...

The herpetofauna occurring in the Selva Maya is one of the richest assemblages in the Americas. We herein provide an updated list of herpetofauna species for the Calakmul region, located in the southern Yucatán Peninsula, Campeche, Mexico. This species list was compiled considering the results of herpetological surveys conducted between 2015-2019 i...

001 Claudia Camarero "Differential gene expression analyses reveal potential novel predatory toxins in the heteronemertean Lineus longissimus" --- 002 Ignazio Avella "Venomics of Lataste's viper (Vipera latastei, Bosca 1878): assessment of interpopulational variation and ontogenetic shift"

Article impact statement: If not carefully assessed, landscape changes could negatively affect dryland-adapted imperiled biodiversity in the Sahel. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/

Genetic and phenotypic differentiation in allopatric conditions can be explained either by neutral phenomena or adaptative processes driven by selection. In reptiles, coloration can affect aspects directly related to their survival, representing a classical character under selection. In this context, secondary contact areas are natural laboratory t...

The Tichka Plateau is a remote, high-elevation (ca 2,700 m) tableland, located in the Western High Atlas of Morocco. In this note, we report the occurrence of 12 reptile species detected in the plateau in May 2019. We provide the first occurrences of Quedenfeldtia trachyblepharus and Chalcides montanus from the Western High Atlas, and Atlantolacert...

Updated checklist of the reptile species present in the Tichka Plateau, Morocco. The note provides data about sightings of species never recorded before in the area.

Snakebite is a globally neglected disease, only recently recognized by the World Health Organization. Despite the still low attention paid by health agencies and pharmaceutical companies to snakebite-related issues, venom research has grown consistently in recent years, being revolutionized by the introduction of new analytical tools (e.g. genomics...

Taking advantage of a dense sampling scheme especially in the contact zones of the two clades of Hierophis viridiflavus detected in Italy, we aim to add information on their genetic distribution and to assess the presence of gene flow upon secondary contact.

This work investigates the genetic identity of Hierophis viridiflavus s.l. specimens from insular populations, to determine which of the two previously identified species is present on each island. Here, the authors hypothesise about times and modes of colonization and discuss the faunistic value of the obtained results. This follows the recent pro...

High percentages of body malformations are considered auxiliary indicators of global amphibian decline. However, information on their frequency in natural populations are rarely provided and sample sizes are often small, particularly for newts and salamanders. In this study we report on the malformations of a population of the Spectacled Salamander...

My unpublished BSc thesis, about some of the reptiles and amphibians living in the WWF Oasis "Lago di Conza", in Southern Italy. Focus on the species found during the sampling sessions and the sources of disturbance.