Portal:Snakes

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The Snake Portal

Pope's pit viper (Trimeresurus popeiorum)

Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (/sɜːrˈpɛntiːz/). Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, Dibamidae, and Pygopodidae).

Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, the Hawaiian archipelago, and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. Around thirty families are currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long (4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in length. The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft) long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during the Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167 Ma ago. The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene epoch (c. 66 to 56 Ma ago, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event). The oldest preserved descriptions of snakes can be found in the Brooklyn Papyrus. (Full article...)

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The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is a venomous snake endemic to Asia. The sole member of the genus Ophiophagus, it is not taxonomically a true cobra, despite its common name and some resemblance. With an average length of 3.18 to 4 m (10.4 to 13.1 ft) and a record length of 5.85 m (19.2 ft), it is the world's longest venomous snake. The species has diversified colouration across habitats, from black with white stripes to unbroken brownish grey. The king cobra is widely distributed albeit not commonly seen, with a range spanning from the Indian Subcontinent through Southeastern Asia to Southern China. It preys chiefly on other snakes, including those of its own kind. This is the only ophidian that constructs an above-ground nest for its eggs, which are purposefully and meticulously gathered and protected by the female throughout the incubation period.

The threat display of this elapid includes spreading its neck-flap, raising its head upright, making eye contact, puffing, hissing and occasionally charging. Given the size of the snake, it is capable of striking at a considerable range and height, sometimes sustaining a bite. Envenomation from this species is medically significant and may result in a rapid fatality unless antivenom is administered in time. Despite the species' fearsome reputation, aggression toward humans usually only arises from an individual inadvertently exposing itself or being cornered. (Full article...)

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... that Olivia Rodrigo can write ballads about homeschooled girls as well as about songbirds and snakes?
... that the tomb of the overseer of every cultivated place and every desert place threatens grave robbers with crocodiles and snakes?
... that the Maloja Wind in Switzerland can produce a narrow and elongated low-lying cloud known as the "Maloja Snake"?
... that Missouri's annual Snake Saturday parade originally began in a hotel parking lot with only four floats?
... that following the introduction of the round goby to Lake Erie, the Lake Erie watersnake's population recovered enough to be removed from the U.S. threatened species list?
... that when a Russian warship asked the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island to surrender, their response was "Russian warship, go fuck yourself"?

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... that Wilmer Tanner (pictured with a tiger trophy), born 1909, described at least fifteen new species or genera?
...that the Olive python, Australia's second largest snake, can eat prey as large as a wallaby?
... that one of the few cases of poisoning by the Montpellier snake occurred when someone stuck his finger into the snake's mouth?
... that twenty-six U.S. states have an official reptile?
... that the American minister George Went Hensley taught that Christians should eschew baseball and embrace venomous snakes?

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Quality Content

Featured snake-related articles - George Went Hensley - List of snakes of Trinidad and Tobago
Good snake-related articles - Agkistrodon piscivorus - Bitis arietans - Bitis gabonica - Black mamba - Black-necked spitting cobra - Eastern green mamba - Forest cobra - Hydrophiinae - Many-banded krait - Nerodia clarkii - Russell's viper - Snake scales - Vipera berus - Western green mamba

General images

The following are images from various snake-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A line diagram from The Fauna of British India by G. A. Boulenger (1890), illustrating the terminology of shields on the head of a snake (from Snake)
Image 2Vipera berus, one fang in glove with a small venom stain, the other still in place (from Snake)
Image 3African egg-eating snake eating an egg (from Snake)
Image 4Eupodophis descouensi (from Snake)
Image 5Snake meat, in a Taipei restaurant (from Snake)
Image 6Crawling prints of a snake (from Snake)
Image 7Medusa (1597) by the Italian artist Caravaggio (from Snake)
Image 8Eupodophis descouensi (from Snake)
Image 9Innocuous milk snakes are often mistaken for coral snakes whose venom is deadly to humans. (from Snake)
Image 10Wart snake (Acrochordus granulatus) (from List of snakes of South Asia)
Image 11The Indian cobra is the most common subject of snake charmings. (from Snake)
Image 12The skeletons of snakes are radically different from those of most other reptiles (as compared with the turtle here, for example), consisting almost entirely of an extended ribcage. (from Snake)
Image 13Ballcourt marker from the Postclassic site of Mixco Viejo in Guatemala. This sculpture depicts Kukulkan, jaws agape, with the head of a human warrior emerging from his maw. (from Snake)
Image 14The garter snake has been studied for sexual selection. (from Snake)
Image 15Common Tree Snake (from Australian snake habitats)
Image 16The reverse side of the throne of Pharaoh Tutankhamun with four golden uraeus cobra figures. Gold with lapis lazuli; Valley of the Kings, Thebes (1347–37 BCE). (from Snake)
Image 17Mouse embryo 12 day post fertilization side by side with corn snake embryo 2 days post ovo-positioning. (from Snake)
Image 18A red-sided garter snake (from Narcisse Snake Dens)
Image 19Approximate world distribution of snakes (from Snake)
Image 20Most common symptoms of any kind of snake bite envenomation. Furthermore, there is vast variation in symptoms between bites from different types of snakes. (from Snake)
Image 21Tetrapodophis (from Snake)
Image 22Close up of a red-sided garter snake
Image 23Rod of Asclepius, in which the snake, through ecdysis, symbolizes healing (from Snake)
Image 24Snake coiled on a stick in Oklahoma. It was brumating in a large pile of wood chips, found by this landscaper after he bulldozed the pile in late autumn 2018. (from Snake)
Image 25Common Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus) (from List of snakes of South Asia)
Image 26Eupodophis descouensi hind leg (from Snake)
Image 27An adult Barbados threadsnake, Leptotyphlops carlae, on an American quarter dollar (from Snake)
Image 28Dolichophis jugularis preying on a sheltopusik (from Snake)
Image 29Narcisse Snake Dens welcome sign (from Narcisse Snake Dens)
Image 30Golden tree snake climbing a flower (from Snake)
Image 31Diagram illustrating differential somite size due to difference in somitogenesis clock oscillation (from Snake)
Image 32A neonate sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) sidewinding (from Snake)
Image 33The world's most venomous snake, based on LD₅₀, is the inland taipan of Australia. (from Venomous snake)
Image 34Australia-Oceania Köppen Map (from Australian snake habitats)
Image 35The Binocellate Cobra(naja naja) (from List of snakes of South Asia)
Image 36Snakes composing a bronze kerykeion from the mythical Longanus river in Sicily (from Snake)
Image 37The lateral view of a king cobra's skull showing fangs (from Venomous snake)
Image 38A common watersnake shedding its skin (from Snake)