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SNAKES

There are over 3,000 snake species worldwide, with about 600 being venomous and 200 able to kill humans. Snakes are covered in scales that help with moisture regulation and movement. They have forked tongues used to smell food and danger, and jaws that open wider than their bodies to swallow prey whole. Snakes move using specialized belly scales and muscles rather than legs. Most lay eggs but some give live birth, and pythons incubate eggs.

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Anete Šnitka
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62 views7 pages

SNAKES

There are over 3,000 snake species worldwide, with about 600 being venomous and 200 able to kill humans. Snakes are covered in scales that help with moisture regulation and movement. They have forked tongues used to smell food and danger, and jaws that open wider than their bodies to swallow prey whole. Snakes move using specialized belly scales and muscles rather than legs. Most lay eggs but some give live birth, and pythons incubate eggs.

Uploaded by

Anete Šnitka
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SNAKES

There are more than 3,000 species of snakes on the planet and they’re found
everywhere except in Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland, and New Zealand. About
600 species are venomous, and only about 200—seven percent—are able to kill or
significantly wound a human.
Almost all snakes are covered in scales and as reptiles, they’re cold blooded and
must regulate their body temperature externally. Scales serve several purposes:
They trap moisture in arid climates and reduce friction as the snake moves.
There have been several species of snakes discovered that are mostly scaleless,
but even those have scales on their bellies.
How snakes hunt
Snakes also have forked tongues, which they flick in different directions to smell
their surroundings. That lets them know when danger—or food—is nearby.
Snakes do not have the right kind of teeth to chew their food so they must eat
their catch whole. Their jaw is structured in such a way that it allows the mouth
to open wider than their own body in order to swallow their prey whole.
How Snakes Move
The bodies of snakes have no feet, flippers or legs to propel them along. They
must use the action of their scales and muscles to scoot their bodies across the
ground. The scales on the underside of their bodies are specialized for this
purpose like the tread on a tire.Different species of snakes use one of the four
manners of movement
Habits
• About once a month snakes shed their skin, a process called ecdysis that makes room for growth
and gets rid of parasites. They rub against a tree branch or other object, then slither out of their
skin head first, leaving it discarded inside-out.
• Most snakes lay eggs, but some species—like sea snakes—give live birth to young. Very few
snakes pay any attention to their eggs, with the exception of pythons, which incubate their
eggs.
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