snake encyclopedia

                                       please comment

 

                                    INTRODUCTION

Snakes are the ultimate slithering animals that dwell like no other animal,they are found in extreme
locations. snakes are found everywhere under the water,underground,slithering on the land,even living in the canopies of evergreen forest,they are even found in the arctic circle.They are  perfectly adaptable to extremely hot deserts.There are over 2700 species of snakes living all over the world except Antarctica,Greenland,Newzealand and Ireland.The size may range up to 8 inch like the thread snake & sizes up to 50 feet titanboa.Most of the people in the world consider snakes as a cause for the death of the person,but of the 2700 species snakes only 500-600 species of the snakes are poisonous,among these 230-250 species are dangerous to human beings.Most of the Scientists consider snakes as painted tubes.There are over 19 different families of snakes,among that only 3 snake families are poisonous,they are Colubridae,Viperdae,Elapidae(cobra family),among these Colubrids are most diverse.the study of snakes is called as ophiology or herpetology(including reptiles & amphibians).ophis=snake,logy=knowledge derived from geek,herp-slithering ology-knowledge.

                       colubridae:vine snake opening its mouth in defense

                            Viperidae:yellow eyelash palm pit viper locking its eyes on prey in amazon.

                            Elapidae:female cobra with her juvenile cobra 


Other families include pythonidae,boidae,uropeltidae(shield tailed snake),Xenopeltidae(sunbeam snakes),

Evolution of snakes:
Its never been technically proved the evolution of snakes but most of the scientists do believe that snakes are evolved lizards,there are few evidences which tell us that a snake is evolved from the lizard,like the spur of a Boa constrictor which is present in the pre anal region .But unfortunately these aren't used for locomotion,they are only used during copulation helpful in fertilising eggs & found in males.Few scientists even believe that these are modified scales,paleontologists like xu-xing of china found many fossils which might be the possible link between snake and lizard.

There are few primitive snakes which even live now,which shows the character of lizards like blind snakes,borrowing snakes,thread snakes.There is a major group of family called as legless lizards these are lizards without legs,they are found in Asia, Europe,Northern Africa this is a major link between a snake & a lizard.Families like viperidae,elapidae are highly evolved snakes,Speaking about their body they have 200-300 ribs on average.The snakes venom is nothing but an extra strong digestive juice,Scientists call venom as its saliva it took millions of years for the formation of venom. 

sense organs:  

     People wonder why the snakes stick its tongue out often,the main reason is for the smell.The sensitive forked tongue collects the scent molecules from the air and the retreats back into the mouth and the scent molecules enter into small slight of  jacobsons's organ which identifies the scent and send signal to the brain through a small nerve about concern specie.Their eye sight is good but not as good as cats    

(the animated picture of a copper head snake of north America)

They have noses in additional to that some vipers & pythons have a pair of heat sensing pits along with a pair of nose.Through these pits a snake can see the world in infrared image,snakes with this pits can even hunt down the prey even at nights cause most of the vipers are nocturnal,a snake can perfectly strike a prey even eyes closed.The yellow region of the mouse shows that it's blood is worm & the speed of blood circulation in very high,so if a snake wants to strike a mouse always it strikes a the centre,higher the speed of blood circulation the quicker the prey dies.In additional to that a snake sticking it's head on the ground can even sense small vibration of the coming prey or predator,through a bone called  pterygoid which is present on the lower jaw,these replace their ears.The eyes of vipers are  vertical  that means they are nocturnal and most of the elapids(cobra family) have a completely round eyes this shows that they are diurnal snakes.

                                                      HOW DO THEY LIVE

Snakes have found amazing way to adapt like no other animal.Basically snake are poikilothermic that means they are cold blooded creatures they need to change their body temperature by socking heat from sun,most of the time snake are found on rocks & on roads due to this reason.As the snake gets warm up it will become more active & agile than what it is before.The more the snakes gets warmed the better & the accurate the strike will be it is not uncommon in reptiles.some snakes go extreme like desert horned adder which can survive the hot desert & thrives,the European adder can survive in the arctic circle & perfectly  adapted to such environment.snakes can blend into the nature,their body structure also changes according to their habit & habitat for example a tree snake is always slender it's body perfectly adapted,rain forest snakes are stout & heavily builded they wait for the prey to come by themselves while being in the camouflage,all colubrids have slender body,while all the boidaes have very stout body & kill their prey by constriction.The following are the snake which are camouflage in their natural habitat .Snakes are ultimate animals in camouflage if you can see the above picture its a desert adder which is almost invisible,the picture above that is the eastern brown snake which is the total definition of the camouflage.This is the hunting mode of the snake.Some water snakes have also adapted to live in water which are classified under the  group hydrophidaes,a sea snake can live under water for more than 1-2 hours for hunting down the prey,few snakes like mangrove snakes have  adapted  to live in mangroves there are few snakes which can glide .

1.MECHANISM OF FLYING SNAKES.(how to they live)

part one in how do they live

(ornate flying snake during the motion making it's ventral surface flat)

These snakes come under family chrysopelea .The flying snakes are really amazing to see,they have unique designs on their skin.The flying snakes fly to prevent predators like eagles,hawks & other bird of preys.First it will select a long tree & climb till the canopy.from there it will reach a branch which could sustain it's body weight.it takes an 'S' shape leap of the branch like the picture beside.after the leap the snake compresses it's body & forms large flat surface on the ventral region,just like sky dives do,this is effective & snakes can travel long distances like 500-800 meters.The snake assumes 'S' shape so that it can take  a sudden left or right turn.this is simple but it is  sophisticated mechanism during the landing the snake losses it's 'S' shape & will not get hurt.This  took millions of years for evolution.they often live on forests as they are found in the rain forests of south east Asia places like India,south china,not only snakes but also few lizards have also evolved to glide through the air.these snakes feed up on the bats,lizards.small birds & even frogs.they are 5 species

2.SPITTING OF VENOM 

(Mozambique spitting cobra)

The evolution of snakes have lead some snakes to spit venom these are consider to be highly evolved.It is too sophisticated mechanism these snakes are called as spitting cobras,it is a bizarre fact that only few cobras fangs are build for spitting venom up to 8-10 feet accurately.there are totally 9-10 species of spitting cobra in the world they are found in Indonesia & Africa it includes species like south Indonesian spitting cobra,black necked spitting cobra,Mozambique spitting cobra,Rinkhals spitting cobra & etc.the reason why a cobra can spit is hidden in it's fangs generally all snakes have small hole at the bottom of the fang canal,but the spitting cobra has the hole at the center of the fang through which the venom comes out we need to study this comparatively.now the fang on the left is an ordinary snakes on the right side is the fang of spitting cobra,as you can see the difference the left fang has  large opening & the right fang has small opening giving the snake some time 

Mechanism is really amazing the snake first inhales air making it's chest as large as possible,there is small hole like pistol near the mouth called as glottis it is a special tube structure which allows the snake to breath while feeding on to the big preys like a calf,through that glottis it exhales the air just like a high pressure tube allowing the gas to come out & then it compresses it's mussel allowing the venom to flow though the fang & then it come out of the hole the exhaled air allows the venom to travel long distances,this procedure is completed in fraction of seconds.The snake on the left is a zebra spitting cobra showing it's glottis(the black hole).Most of the spitting cobras live in the rocky region & Savannah region.if the snakes venom gets in to your eyes you need to cleans it immediately with water or else you will go blind.This can be prevented by using a simple transparent face mask,most of the herpetologists use it while doing research.These cobras may grow up to 7-10 feet in length.they move their head along with the prey eyes.

HOW DO SNAKES FEED

(a cave python hanging upside down to catch the prey)

The feeding mechanism is really intrusting as they are capable of eating prey larger than it's head.All snakes are carnivorus that means they only eat flesh.Most of the people wonder,how can a snake eat such large prey?it's simple it has elastic ligaments around it's mouth while humans on the other hand have elastic ligaments too but in limit.It seems that snakes have crossed their limit,this allows it to eat larger prey.it's not just because of the ligaments but the snake's upper jaw & lower jaw are connected by a small bone called as quadrate  which allows the snake to attach & detach it's jaws.this is how it works before feeding on to the prey it gapes it's mouth to detach it's jaws & after feeding it gapes again to ensue that the it's jaws are reattached.A snake can survive in the extreme places where food is scars one such place is desert.The desert snakes have found amazing way to capture their prey most of the desert snakes skin pattern will blend with the sand,a desert snakes venom so effective that it will kill it's prey almost instantly.Most of the  snakes diet on lizards,frogs,birds,molluscs,bats,sometime snakes.The snakes diet also depends on the place it it living for example a snake which lives in the water  lagoons like a Checkered keel back snake will feed on small lizards,frogs but it does not feed on the mollusc's or bats,a cave snake like children's python or the small vipers will feed on the bats or small animals but it does not feed on other snakes it goes on like that.A snake's digestive juice  is 5 times better than human being allowing the snake to digest even hard things like horns & bones the snake will consume the prey head first then the entire body.snakes like boas constrict it's prey & suffocates the prey while on the other hand venomous snake will kill it's prey by injecting venom into the blood stream.some snakes like reticulated python are capable of eating even human being.if a snake eats a bird or a mouse it will have to rest for 1-2 days depending upon the size but it a large snake like anaconda eats a capibara or a caiman it will have to rest for 4-5 weeks or even more.A snake like reticulated python if eats a cow or medium sized animal it will have to rest for an year or so.a python & anaconda has 100 teeth arranged in 4 rows 2 upper & 2 lower.some stout snakes like gaboon viper lurks in the nature it will camouflaged while hunting the prey.

(a mole snake regurgitating a frog) 

After feeding every snake rests,it has the unique ability to regurgitate the food.It will often do it while threatened as the snake has to move quicker.it does it by contracting & relaxing the neck mussels.by this way it can escape from the predators faster

(an African black mamba opening it's mouth)

some snakes like the African black mamba relies on it's agility.it is the fastest snake in the world a mamba can even strike you on your face it can lift it's 2/3s of the body in air & capable of going at a full speed of 21kmph.it' called black mamba cause it's inner lining of the mouth is black not because it is black

                                 DEFENCE MECHANISM OF SNAKE

The snakes can defend themselves when threatened,they bite you it's not the mistake of snake but it is our mistake we venture each & every place even hideouts the result a snake biting you for no good reason.The main weapon of defence is the VENOM snakes have evolved it since the time of the dinosaurs it took millions of years to develop venom it's not like single use they have special glands called as venom glands,it is a sac like structure where venom in produced & stored.the venom of the rattle snake is 100 times stronger than cyanide.venom is complex & concentrated mixture of proteins so a snake can't wast it for cheap.sometimes snakes give a dry bite i.e a snake bites but it does not deliver venom then the person seems to be lucky especially if its the venomous snake in the world.King cobra has the largest venom sacs producing 2 table spoons of venom.

Besides venom some snakes have special structure which they show on threatened.This the simple way to avoid predation & the snakes do not get hurt,snakes like cobras open their hoods by expanding their neck muscle showing off a bright & clear message that it is near by & dare don't touch me.

(cobra snake opening it's hood tell us the presence)

(an western diamond back rattle snake  taking  the shape before strike)

Rattle snakes during the course of time evolved rattle which is considered to be modified scales.Every time the snake sheds the skin it is added up with a new rattle at the posterior region.it will shake it's tail & produces the famous rattling sound this also serves as the same purpose preventing predation.Most the desert viper do have rough scales called as keel scales.snakes like saw scaled viper produce a unique sound by rubbing it's keel scales it sounds like a rattle snake's rattle.snakes like king cobra & Russell's viper hiss when threatened sounds just like steam of cooker.in united states itself snakes kill about 1000-2000 people a year,people who go to deserts often get bite by sidewinder adders or desert coral snakes,as they are too far from a city or a town for medication they will inevitably die.

                                                                            VENOM(INTRO)

snake slowly started to evolve yellow juicy venom.scientists called it as snake saliva.snakes venom can be of different forms like a cobra has neurotoxin venom which will affect the internal organs like nervous system disabling the flow of blood eventually the whole body will shut down,vipers have hemotoxin venom that which is capable of destroying tissues .the result is worst the part should be amputated based up on the conditions,another kind of venom is cytotoxin venom which is capable of destroying skin around the bitten region .all 3 kinds are venom has adverse effect on human beings.venom causes a rat to pee so that the snake would slither through the sent trail to catch the dead prey.

venom is measured in the units called LD50 which means lethal dose 50,other units LC meaning lethal concentration & LCT(lethal concentration & time).the toxicity of snake's venom is judged by these.snake venom is complex mixture of peptide proteins which is produced slowly.if a snake is milked completely it will regenerate it's venom with in 2-3 weeks or below depending on the food it eats,about millions of years a go when snakes started to thrive on land they are often eaten by the dinosaurs they do not have any weapon of defence this forced the snake to evolve venom.glands & produce venom.but few snake like boas  which could not make up with venom but they brought their brute power into the action cause boas,pythons,anacondas did not evolve venom

(bit from a cobra is complete annihilation,the boilings are the symptom of the bite as you can see some part above the ankle is rotten)

(a poor 15 year old boy was bitten by dangerous snake  in south America the fer DE lance pit viper now the child left leg should be completely amputated it just the matter of hours that cost ed  him a limb)

                                                        ANTI VENOM

If a person is bitten by a snake he is rushed to hospital to serve him some anti venom.the anti venom is nothing but antigens which will break down the venom molecules.Anti venom can be produced when the venom of concern specie is injected into a horse or cattle,after this statement many people would be wondering why will the horse not die,it is simple they are resisted to the venom.when it is injected horse will produce antigens or antibodies,these antigens are taken out by the injection itself & sent to centres where it is converted into anti venom.

(mongoose attacking a cobra)

(a honey badger attacking cobra with out fear)

some animals like a mongoose are capable of killing even a cobra it is because it is resistant to snake's venom not all but cobra besides the reflexes of mongoose are twice as faster as cobras,some animals like honey badger are capable of killing & eating a cobra this has also got the snake reason,that animal is resistant to cobra venom.just like snake evolved venom these animals have as got resisted for venom

if a person is bitten by a snake but after reaching the hospital if the person does not find the anti venom of concern specie then the victim is given a local dose which will buy some time until the anti venom arrives.few places in Africa don't even have anti venom of black mamba,which is the deadliest snake of Africa.

 FUN TIP:

a tapir eats lots of leaves in one day including poisonous once,but at the night it eats clay as clay dissociate poison molecules.

some monkey eat even poisonous fruits & even leaves in the day time to dissociate the poison molecules they eat char coal.

TIPS AFTER YOU ARE BITTEN BY A SNAKE

the following are the instruction to be  followed when your are away from help or hospital

• call 911
• firstly do not panic as you get panic your heart beat raises as it beat fast the blood circulation speeds up allowing to reach the venom to the heart & so the death
• after bitten you need to use very tight band & should be placed behind the wound so that the blood circulation will be very slow,if the victim needs support place a stick wrap with the band along with it.
• meanwhile if you have friends or colleague tell them to suck out the blood containing the venom molecules note:Since it's venom it can't kill you if u drink it,it will be only effective when it is injected into the blood steam,so if a person accidentally drinks venom while aid he is safe.
•  this should be done until the an ambulance arrives to take victim to hospital.after going to the hospital you should be able to tell about the bite of concern specie or else they will give you a local dosage.
• the simple way to tell weather you are bitten by a poisonous snake or non poisonous snake,when a poisonous snake bites a person it will leave 2 dots while a non poisonous snake leaves 4 dots
• to be at the safe side go to the hospital some snakes do give a dry bite even though they are poisonous that means a snake will bite,but does not inject venom.
• symptoms of the bit varies from snake to snake in most cases but common symptoms are Nashua,metallic taste in the mouth,kind of giddiness,breath lessens,vomiting are some in common. 
• the basic identification of snake weather a snake is poisonous see on it's head if it is triangular it is definitely a poisonous viper,if you take a keen look on the snake's face if you find 2 pits other than nostrils then they are definitely a poisonous snake,the depression between eye & nostrils is a look of poisonous snake.
• most of the cases if a slender snake bites you you are free from danger as they are colubrids but few of them can give a fatal bite like boomslang of a Africa.

                                  ANATOMY OF SNAKE

since it's a slender body the anatomy of snake is sophisticated.all the internal organ  are compressed like a tube.when a snake eats a prey it will enter into the stomach through treachia, pharynx,oesophagus.this is an intricate picture of a snake showing off different parts of the body to protect this organs there are 150-200 ribs may go up to 600-700 in case of pythons.the heart of the snake is relatively small when compared to the body.when prey reaches stomach it is totally digested by digestive enzyme & nutrients are absorbed in small intestine,nothing is remained.At the posterior region there is sperm duct which will release the sperm for reproduction.the organs of snake are similar to that of human beings ,as you can see the picture the stomach of the snake is bigger,as it should digest bigger prey as there are  no limbs the heart will preserve the energy for pumping blood,but a lot of blood should be pupped to the vital organs.


                                  REPRODUCTION OF SNAKES
most of the people around the world think that snakes only reproduce by laying eggs thinking that they are only oviviparous but the entire family of viper produce by giving birth to young once.vivo=i live,perae=i give birth,this is take from latin word.even boas & anacondas give birth to living once.the breeding season differ from snake to snake of course snakes sharing same environment will have same seasons for breeding a snake can produce 10-20 eggs at a time or even more in some cases.they guard their eggs till they hatch & most of the snakes leave their newly born child to grow by themselves however some snakes will guard their eggs up to 2or 3 weeks like a bamboo pit  viper.A female filled with eggs has an enlarged belly so we can easily identify weather it is pregnant or not.

While king cobra is the only snake which will built a nest & guard it's eggs.breeding in snakes is spectacular to watch the male & the female will coil their body like spring to each other,there will be high chances of breeding this looks like a spectacular dance.there will be wars between a male & an another male for breeding as there are 2 mails who want  to copulate with 1 female usually the war  leaves off wounds but in some cases even death.

In this process the male will slowly rub his spur to females sac which will stimulate eggs in the stomach leaving of beautiful eggs after this they find a secure place to lay eggs where there is no danger but when a man passes by that region will be strike to the death by male,male in most  group of animals are highly territorial & aggressive,they do any thing to bring down to their knees.

(a very big female anaconda is surrounded by many male anacondas)

While in some snakes like boas,pythons & anacondas females are bigger than males in that situation a female is capable of mating with several male snakes at a time.this is absolutely scenic view.all the males copulates while female being at the centre this looks like a a giant ball & so it is called as breeding ball.the females are twice as large as males.most of the anacondas copulate while being in the swamp itself.
Just like the above the picture with several anacondas around a female snake.this process may take may horse & the female is payed of with beautiful little children & gives birth directly to young once laying about 20-30 babies from that moment they are left alone & so only 4-5 babies may make out to adulthood

In sea snakes copulation occurs in the water itself but the female lays eggs in an air pocket which means the eggs are safe from the water.above that all ovivipary snake produce leathery shells which means it is water resistant,as sea snake lay eggs in air pocket they are safe & warm soon the baby sea snakes hatch from the egg,but the main threat has just begun as a female lays 20-30 eggs only 4-5 may proceed to adult hood & the reason is small animals like seals may eat the eggs before they hatch or they may become prey after reaching adolescents age.

(a group of garter snakes seem to produce like worms)

The life span of snake is less like 10-12 years max but few snakes like anaconda may live up to 60-70 years,but short life snap snakes get faster sexual maturity.the gestation period may very from snake to snake .how ever there  is a record breaking snake which produce about 100-120 babies at a time & it's called the garter snake.the picture on the left is a group of garter snakes.all these snakes are produced from a single mother & a single father.









                            CLASSIFICATION OF SNAKES BASED ON FANG STRUCTURE
Scientists classified snakes based up on there fangs as it is an easy way to differentiate snakes.there are four  types of fangs among snakes.now even you can different a snake by knowing this.

1.AGLYPHOUS

This type of fangs are seen in large snakes like boas,pythons,anacondas.There are 4 rows of fangs with 2 rows on the bottom & 2 rows o the top.there are about 70-100 backwards pointed fangs giving a vice grip if a hand goes between the jaws it will never come back unless the snakes jaws are opened 180 degree.this kind of jaws feed on prey like birds, deer, calf etc it will include the diet of boidaes.aglyphous kind of jaws need heavy mussels to control the jaws & flesh tearing bite.

2.OPISTHOGLYPHOUS

This is seen in the family colubridae this is also called as rare fanged snakes,they have their fangs located backwards so it is difficult for a colubrid to strike human beings,but there is a colubrid which can kill us it is called as boom slang snake of Africa.with these jaws a snake can feed on lizards, mouse,frogs etc.as you can see in this picture all the fangs are located backwards the snake will be using only one pair of fangs & the rest are upcoming once,there should be quick replacement in fangs as fangs are  half of snakes property.

                                                                                     3.PROTEROGLYPHOUS

This like of jaw structure is seen in elapidae=cobra family.this also consist of 2 rows of jaws on the lower side but they are only useful while feeding not for striking.the upper pair of jaws are fixed they are not movable,hence there will be no difficult in striking as the fangs are in position.the posterior part of the fang takes a U curve,as you can see the fang is bent like a nail.the venom of these fangs is neurotoxin killing the prey by shutting down the heart.







                                                                                     4.SOLENOGLYPHOUS

These are the fangs of the viper.which act as switch blade they have movable fangs.these fangs are protected in the mouth by a layer of mussel sheath which will keep the snake's fangs protected,during the strike fangs come out this sheath & penetrate into the flesh,this is advanced type of fangs only seen in the family viperidae.they open their mouth almost 170-180 degree to ensure that the bite is full effective with sufficient venom delivered.the venom used by this fangs are hemotoxin venom,which destroys the blood tissues & with excruciating pain.




                    CLASSIFICATION OF SNAKES BASED ON LOCOMOTION
There are three types of locomotion in snakes which also is an easy way to determine difference between the snakes.they are concentric locomotion,sidewinding locomotion,rectilinear locomotion,okay lets have a brief look about them

                                                   1.SERPENTINE LOCOMOTION

The serpentine locomotion is the most common type of locomotion,where a snakes slithers taking an 'S' shape.
as you cam see in the picture the body of the snake bends at the middle & the rest of the part will follow the same.this is seen in all kind of snakes irrespective of the family of snakes.this kind of locomotion is not seen in stout & larges snakes like bidaes.this is not seen in the desert snakes like sidewinders .

2.CONCENTRIC LOCOMOTION

this is a worm like movement where a snake pulls it's  body,it uses it's front part of the body like an anchor & pulls the rest of the body in the same straight line.This is seen in the small snakes & colubrids .


                                       SIDE WINDING LOCOMOTION

(a side winder moving with full speed to escape the scorching heat of sun)

This is really intresting,this is an adaption of the snake in desert.this kind of locomotion is a very unique way to escape the scorching heat of desert floor.through this locomotion snake only touches the ground at 2 points,though it seems as the whole ventral  surface of snake touches the ground.the side winding snakes are fastest moving animals of deserts.they leave of great geometric designs as they pass through the area.now even you can tell weather a side winder live in deserts by looking at their trails.

If a side winder is place on the marbled floor it will move in the serpentine locomotion.it is just a desert adaption.there are 3 species of side winders a)sonoran side winder b)colorado side winder c)mojave side wander.


                                             RECTILINEAR LOCOMOTION

(an Indian rock python struggling to  move on land)

This kind of locomotion is seen in heavy builded snakes like boas & pythons.This is the process by the which the snake travel forward by contracting & relaxing the muscles as boas,pythons & anacondas are builded with muscles.Rectilinear locomotion in relatively a very slow locomotion when compared to others that is the reason why most of the boas & anacondas spend there time in water as they are twice as faster than on the land.usually they come to the ground for resting & digesting the food.So when a snake this threatened it will regret it's food allowing it to escape with more velocity.


            Introuction to snakes is just a topic on how the snakes are.My main goal is to let you understand every thing about snakes.You should never be less in knowledge about snakes,I have used very simple english this is because each and every one of you who reads this matter should unerstand even the dust in a nail.I am 16 years old, just like you guys i am very interested in herpetology and one day i will become a great herpetologist.I am from Hyderabad,AndhraPradesh,India.In this blog i have used all the available images from google images.
Most of the matter in my blog have been gathered from my 5 years of extensive study on herpetology this is very less matter that i have put in front of you.I even know many things about reptiles which i am going to present  in another blog.

You can contact me at:

FACEBOOK                                       my gmail adress:gautam.herp@gmail.com
:gautam.herp@gmail.com                                                  or
                                                             my another gmail adress:viperanthem@gmail.com

                                                  THANK YOU ALL 

                                                          DA LUCK