this species was reported by Els (1988), involving a juvenile and 24-year-old victim penetrated by a single fang. The results were painful, but there were none of the strongly hemotoxic symptoms that had been associated with Atheris venom up to that point. In a second case in 1996, a victim experienced severe hemolysis and complete platelet destruction after which his liver and kidneys began to fail. When it was feared that the patient might die from hemolytic-uremic syndrome, plasmapheresis was performed. Luckily, the patient survived, but it is now obvious that P. superciliaris venom is very hemotoxic. Taxonomy This species was previously placed in the genus Atheris based on skull characteristics and because of its partially prehensile tail. Etymology The generic name, Proatheris, is Latin for "before-atheris". References Further reading Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the ... Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I.- XXV. (Vipera superciliaris, p. 491). Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (Genus Proatheris, p. 119; Proatheris superciliaris, pp. 119–120 + Plate 14). Broadley, D.G. 1996. A review of the tribe Atherini (Serpentes: Viperidae), with descriptions of two new genera. African Journal of Herpetology 45: 40-48. (Genus Proatheris). Els R. 1988. Atheris superciliaris envenomation. J. Herpetol. Assoc. Africa 34: 52. Marais J. 1992. A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing. 248 pp. Marx H., Rabb G.B. 1965. Phyletic analysis of fifty characters of advanced snakes. Field Zool. 63: 1-321. Peters, W. 1854. Diagnosen neuer Batrachier, welche zusammen mit der früher (24. Juli und 17. August) gegebenen Übersicht der Schlangen und Eidechsen mitgelheilt werden. Bericht über die zur Bekanntmachung geeigheten Verhandlugen der Königl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1854: 614-628. (Vipera superciliaris, p. 625). Stevens RA. 1973. A report on the lowland viper, Atheris superciliaris from the Lake Chilwa floodplain of Malawi. Arnoldia (Rhodesia) 22: 1-22. External links Viperinae Monotypic snake genera Reptiles described in 1854