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Snakes

Snakes are limbless reptiles belonging to the suborder Serpentes, characterized by their elongated bodies and unique skull structure that allows them to swallow large prey. They inhabit every continent except Antarctica and exhibit a wide range of sizes and species, with around 3,900 recognized. Most snakes are nonvenomous, using constriction or swallowing prey alive, while venomous species primarily use their venom to subdue prey rather than for defense.

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6 views1 page

Snakes

Snakes are limbless reptiles belonging to the suborder Serpentes, characterized by their elongated bodies and unique skull structure that allows them to swallow large prey. They inhabit every continent except Antarctica and exhibit a wide range of sizes and species, with around 3,900 recognized. Most snakes are nonvenomous, using constriction or swallowing prey alive, while venomous species primarily use their venom to subdue prey rather than for defense.

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47lover
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Snakes are elongated, limbless reptiles of

the suborder Serpentes (/sɜːrˈpɛntiːz/).[2] 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.[3] 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,
and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and
central Pacific oceans.[4] 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.[5] They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long
(4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake[6] to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in
length.[7] The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft)
long.[8] 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.[9][10] 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.

Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to
kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that is potent
enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either
swallow prey alive or kill by constriction.

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