Content
- Snake Characteristics
- where snakes live
- venomous snake
- Types of dangerous snakes
- non-venomous snake
- Water snake
- marine snake
- sand snakes
There are about 3,400 species of snakes, and less than 10 percent of them are poisonous. Despite this, snakes are a symbol of fear for humans, often personifying evil.
Snakes, or snakes, belong to the Squamata order (popularly known as scaly) along with chameleons and iguanas. These animals are characterized by having the upper jaw totally fused to the skull, and a very mobile lower jaw, in addition to a tendency to reduced limbs, or totally absent, in the case of snakes. In this article by PeritoAnimal, let's know the types of snakes that exist, the characteristics and some examples.
Snake Characteristics
Snakes, like the rest of reptiles, have the scaled body. These epidermal scales are arranged next to each other, superimposed, etc. Among them, there is a mobile area called hinge, which allows you to perform movements. Snakes, unlike lizards, have horny scales and do not have osteoderms or bony scales under them. The squamous epidermal tissue undergoes complete change every time the animal grows. It changes as a single piece, which is named exuvia.
Are ectothermic animals, that is, unable to regulate their body temperature on their own, so they depend on the environment. To do this, they modify and adapt their behavior to keep their temperature as stable as possible.
As they are reptiles, the snake circulatory system is characterized by having a heart divided into three chambers, being two atria and only one ventricle. This organ receives blood from the body and lungs, releasing it to the rest of the body. The small valves and partitions present in the ventricle make it work as if it were split in two.
O snake respiratory system it consists of a small orifice at the end of the mouth, called glottis. The glottis has a membrane that allows air to enter the trachea when the animal needs to breathe. After the trachea, there is a fully functioning right lung with a bronchus running through it, called mesobranch. The left lung of snakes is very small, or completely absent in many species. Breathing occurs thanks to the intercostal muscles.
snakes have a highly evolved excretory system. The kidneys are of the metanephric type, as in birds and mammals. They filter the blood, expelling waste substances. They are located in the most posterior area of the body. At snakes don't have bladder, but the end of the tube through which they evacuate is wider, which allows for storage.
The fertilization of these animals is always internal. Most snakes are oviparous animals, lay eggs. Although, on occasions, they can be ovoviviparous, developing the offspring inside the mother. Female ovaries are elongated and float inside the body cavity. In males, the seminiferous ducts act as the testes. There is also a structure called hemipenis, which is nothing more than an invagination of the cloaca and serves to be introduced into the female's cloaca.
THE cloaca it is a structure where the excretory tubes, the end of the intestine and the reproductive organs converge.
Some sense organs in snakes are highly developed, such as smell and taste. Snakes have a Jacobson organ or vomeronasal organ, through which they detect pheromones. In addition, through saliva, they can perceive taste and smell sensations.
On the face, they present loreal pits that capture small temperature differences, up to 0.03 ºC. They use them to hunt. The number of pits they have varies from 1 to 13 pairs on each side of the face. Through the detectable thermal field, there is a double chamber separated by a membrane. When there is a warm-blooded animal nearby, the air in the first chamber increases, and moves the termination membrane that stimulates the nerve endings.
Finally, there are very venomous snakes. Venom is produced by salivary glands whose composition is modified. After all, saliva, there is a digestive function which helps in the digestion of prey. Therefore, if a snake bites you, even if it is not poisonous, the saliva itself can cause an adverse reaction and cause very painful wounds.
where snakes live
Snakes, due to their diversity of species, colonized almost all habitats on the planet, with the exception of the poles. Some snakes live in areas forestry, using the trees as a displacement route. other snakes live in pastures and more open areas. But they can also live in very rocky or water-scarce areas such as deserts. There are snakes that even colonized the oceans. So, the aquatic environment it can also be an ideal location for some types of snakes.
venomous snake
The different types of snakes have different types of teeth:
- aglyphic teeth, which do not have a channel through which the venom can be inoculated and flows throughout the mouth.
- opistoglyph teeth, which are located at the back of the mouth, with a channel through which the venom is injected.
- Proteroglyph teeth, are on the front and have a channel.
- Solenoglyph teeth, have an internal duct. The inoculating teeth that can move backwards, present in the most venomous snakes.
Not all snakes have the same degree of danger. Typically, snakes evolve to prey on specific prey and, among them, the human being is not present. Therefore, most snakes, even when they are venomous, should not pose a real threat.
Types of dangerous snakes
Despite this, there are extremely dangerous snakes. Between the most venomous snakes in the world we found:
- Taipan-do-interior (Oxyuranus microlepidotus);
- Black Mamba (Dendroaspis Polylepis);
- Blecher's Sea Snake (Hydrophis Belcheri);
- Royal snake (Hannah Ophiophagus);
- Royal Jararca (Bothrops Asper);
- Western Diamond Rattlesnake (Crotalus Atrox).
Also find out, at PeritoAnimal, which are the most venomous snakes in Brazil.
non-venomous snake
Speaking of types of snakes, about 90% of snakes that inhabit planet Earth are not poisonous, but they still pose a threat. Pythons are non-venomous snakes, but they can use their body to crush and suffocate big animals in a few seconds. Some python snake types are:
- Carpet python (Morelia spilot);
- Burmese python (Python bivitatus);
- Royal python (Python regius);
- Amethyst python (amethystine simalia);
- African python (Python sebae).
Some snakes are considered types of house snakes, but no snake is in fact a domestic animal, as they have never gone through the long process of domestication. What happens is that the snakes' temperament is generally calm and they rarely attack unless they feel threatened. This fact, added to the characteristic of not being poisonous, makes many people decide to have them as pets. Others non-venomous snakes are:
- Boa constrictor (good constrictor);
- Californian King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus californiae);
- False coral (Lampropeltis triangulum); is one of the types of snakes from Mexico.
- Arboreal-green python (Morelia viridis).
Water snake
At water snakes they live on the banks of rivers, lakes and ponds. These snakes are usually large and, although they breathe air, spend most of the day submerged in water, where they find some of the food they need, such as amphibians and fish.
- Collared Water Snake (natrix natrix);
- Viperine Water Snake (Natrix Maura);
- Elephant Trunk Snake (Acrochordus javanicus);
- Green anaconda (Murinus Eunectes).
marine snake
Sea snakes form a subfamily within the snake group, the Hydrophiinae subfamily. These snakes spend most of their lives in salt water and are, in most cases, unable to move along a solid surface such as the surface of the Earth. Some species of sea snakes are:
- Wide-snouted sea snake (Colubrine Laticauda);
- Black-headed Sea Snake (Hydrophis melanocephalus);
- Pelagic Sea Snake (Hydrophis platurus).
sand snakes
Sand snakes are those snakes that live in deserts. Among them, we find some types of rattlesnakes.
- Horned viper (Viper Ammodytes);
- Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus);
- Arizona Coral Snake (Euryxanthus microroids);
- Bright snake-peninsular (quiet arizona);
- Bright snake (arizona elegans).
If you want to read more articles similar to Snake types: classification and photos, we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.