Vivora

Vivora is a common name used in several Romance language traditions to refer to venomous snakes. In Spanish and Portuguese, the standard term is víbora, but vivora appears in texts without diacritics and in certain dialects. In general usage, vivora can denote members of the family Viperidae, which includes true vipers (Viperinae) and pit vipers (Crotalinae).

Anatomically, vipers typically have a broad, triangular head, stout body, and venom-delivering fangs that fold back when not in use. Pit vipers (Crotalinae) possess heat-sensing pits between the eyes and nostrils. Venom composition varies by species but often includes enzymes that break down tissue and disrupt blood coagulation, aiding prey capture and defense.

Vipers are distributed across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, inhabiting deserts, forests, grasslands, and montane regions. They are generally ambush predators, feeding on small mammals, birds, lizards, and amphibians. Reproduction varies by species: many vipers give birth to live young, while others lay eggs.

Contact with humans can result in envenomation, which requires medical attention and species-appropriate antivenom where available. Outside medical context, vipers play ecological roles as predators controlling rodent populations. Many viper species face threats from habitat loss, persecution, and collection, with several listed as of conservation concern by international and national authorities.

In everyday language, the term vivora emphasizes danger or venom; in literature it may symbolize risk or the mystery of nature.