What is the snake's pulse? Does a snake have a skeleton? External features and structural features of snakes

Who is this snake? Perhaps everyone can answer this question without thinking: it is a reptile that crawls on the ground because it does not have legs to walk. Partially is the correct answer. Why partially? Because there are reptiles that are not snakes, but also do not have legs - these are legless lizards. However, our article will not be about them, but about snakes. After all, the group of these animals is incredibly diverse and interesting.

Scientists count about 2,500 snakes in nature. These animals form an entire suborder in the order of scaly reptiles. Snakes are easy to distinguish from other animals by their body shape: it is elongated, as we have already said, snakes have no limbs. The body of these reptiles is flexible; they move along the surface, making wave-like movements. The special structure of the skeleton and the large number of vertebrae make snakes real acrobats, because they can curl up into a ball and even tie themselves in a knot!

The size of the snakes is also amazing in its scope: from a few centimeters to more than 10 meters! We have prepared a separate, very informative story for you about the inhabitants of our planet.

Where do snakes live?

Snakes live on almost our entire planet, with the exception of the icy continent of Antarctica. The biggest species diversity these animals can be observed in tropical areas. Here snakes reach incredible sizes and there are individuals of a wide variety of colors. They prefer to settle in forests, deserts, swamps, mountains, steppes, as well as in fresh waters.

Lifestyle, nutrition and behavior of snakes in nature

By way of life, all snakes are loners. However, during the mating season, massive concentrations of these animals can be observed, especially during the mating period.

Many of the snakes are deadly poisonous. Especially many of these snakes are found in Africa and Asia. This video will tell you about the world:

As for the sense organs of snakes, they do not have excellent hearing, nor good eyesight. The thing is that snakes completely lack an external ear, so the snake “hears” almost only due to the vibrations of the soil or the surface on which it is located. The eyes of snakes are not distinguished by vigilance; they are able to notice only what is constantly moving; in most cases, snakes do not pay attention to motionless “prey”.

If vision and hearing are naturally poorly developed in these reptiles, maybe the taste buds in snakes are excellent? Unfortunately, the situation here is exactly the same. Snakes do not distinguish the taste of the food they eat. In general, they do not particularly enjoy eating food in the usual sense; they do not chew it, but swallow it whole.

The only sense that snakes have well developed is their sense of smell. The receptors that capture odors are located in these reptiles not only in the nostrils, but also on their long tongue. Therefore, snakes often stick out their tongues to smell the scent of their future prey.

Snakes are also endowed by nature with so-called thermolocators. These are special devices located on the muzzle and looking like dimples. Scientists believe that such receptors allow the snake to see the world as if through a thermal imager.

The voice of snakes is not developed; the only sound that these animals have learned to make in the process of evolution is hissing. The only exception is, perhaps, rattlesnakes who know how to make a “rattle” from their tail: they have scales located in a special way in this part of the body.

One of the characteristics of snakes is molting. The fact is that sooner or later the snake grows out of its scaly shell and needs to be “replaced”. However, each scale does not change individually in a snake; the animal sheds the old “skin” with a stocking. The dropped “outfit” is called a crawl.

Snakes have a wide variety of colors: from modest and inconspicuous to incredibly bright and colorful. Some use skin color to hide from enemies or to sneak up on prey unnoticed. Others, on the contrary, warn with their color that it is better not to approach them. As a rule, all venomous snakes have bright scales, but there are exceptions.

All representatives of the suborder of snakes are predatory animals. Some eat mice, others eat lizards, others eat only smaller ones, others dine on bird eggs, and others... can even eat a whole crocodile!

Often the prey of snakes (naturally, very large ones) are large ungulates. The snake literally pulls itself onto the carcass of the caught animal and gradually swallows it, and then digests it for a long time.

We invite you to find out a few amazing facts from the life of reptiles.

They're everywhere (almost)

Our planet is home to more than 2,900 species of snakes, found everywhere from the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia to southern Australia. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica (Ireland, Greenland, Iceland and New Zealand also had no snakes), and even deep underwater and high in the mountains.

Snakes have a special internal structure

Have you ever thought about how they work? internal organs snakes? Well, maybe not, but in fact the structure of these creatures is amazing, since they do not have a body as such to house the main systems. Snakes' paired organs, such as kidneys, are located front and back rather than left and right, and they only have one functioning lung.

Schematic representation of the internal organs of a snake: 1 - esophagus, 2 - trachea, 3 - tracheal lung, 4 - rudimentary left lung, 5 - right lung, 6 - heart and thymus, 7 - liver, 8 - stomach, 9 - air (swimming) ) sac, 10 - gallbladder, 11 - pancreas, 12 - spleen, 13 - intestines, 14 - testes, 15 - kidneys.

The location of the heart can change, it moves due to the absence of a diaphragm, due to which large pieces food does not compress it when swallowed and moves through the esophagus.

They sniff with their tongue

We often associate the word “snake” with the hissing and fluttering of a forked tongue from an open mouth. Why do they do this? The fact is that snakes smell using their tongue, collecting airborne particles and then transferring them to the olfactory organs in the mouth. The two parts of the tongue give the reptile something of a sense of direction as to where smells or tastes are coming from. With these quick movements, snakes are able to perceive chemical substances in air, soil and water, and also with their help to determine the presence of nearby prey or predators.

Snakes are sensitive

Sensitive in a different sense than touching soap operas, otherwise: snakes have a subtle sense of vibration. The slippery part of the abdomen can detect even the slightest vibrations in the air and on the ground, which gives the reptile the ability to sense the approach of other animals.

In addition, some rattlesnakes, pythons and boas also have infrared receptors in the depressions on their heads that allow them to sense the heat emitted by any warm-blooded animal nearby.

They eat what suits them

Snakes exclusively consume a variety of animals, including small lizards, other snakes, small mammals, birds, eggs, fish, snails or insects and up to large mammals such as jaguars and deer.

Since snakes eat their prey in one large gulp, the size of the reptile determines the size of the animal it consumes. For example, a young python may start out with lizards or mice, moving on to small deer and antelope as they age and increase in body size.

Their sizes vary from 10 cm to 10 m

Most snakes are relatively small, about a meter long. The extinct snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12-15m long, but today's longest reptile is the reticulated python at around 10m. At the other end of that line is the 10cm tiny Leptotyphlops carlae.

The weight of the heaviest snake is 250 kg

The South American anaconda grows up to 9 m in length and reaches a weight of 250 kg. On land, these reptiles are rather clumsy, and therefore live near shallow rivers and swamps, spending most of their time in the water, where they can move faster. The anaconda's eyes and nostrils are located on the top of its head, and these snakes stalk prey like alligators, leaving their bodies below the surface of the water.

And what animals does the heaviest snake in the world hunt to maintain its impressive mass? These are wild boars, deer, birds, turtles, capybaras, caimans and even jaguars, which the snake strangles, squeezing with its powerful body. Its jaws are connected by flexible ligaments, allowing them to swallow a whole meal, which sometimes lasts for weeks or even months.

Some snakes can fly!

Are you fascinated by the sight of a reptile slithering through the grass? What can you say about a snake rushing through the air? Yes, there are five types poisonous snakes, living in trees that can fly. They can be seen on the island of Sri Lanka and in the South East Asia, and technically these snakes are more likely to be gliders than flyers, as they use the speed of free fall from a tree and contraction of body muscles to catch rising air currents.

Each of these features is also found in lizards, from which snakes (presumably) originated in the Cretaceous period (135–65 million years ago), but together they are characteristic only of snakes. Currently, about three thousand species of snakes are known.

Structure.

The snake's body is divided into head, torso and tail. In most cases, the skeleton consists of a skull and a vertebral column (141 to 435 vertebrae in some fossil forms), to which the ribs are attached. Only some species of snakes retain rudiments of their hind limbs.

Snakes are perfectly adapted to absorbing large prey, this is reflected in the structure of the skeleton. The right and left halves of the lower jaws are connected movably, the ligaments have special extensibility. The tops of the teeth are directed backwards: when swallowing food, the snake seems to “sit” on it, and the food bolus gradually moves inward. Snakes do not have a sternum and the ribs end freely. Therefore, the part of the body in which the digested prey is located can be greatly stretched.

Many snakes are poisonous. Their upper jaw has large canalized or grooved teeth. Poison produced by modified salivary glands, falls on the base of the tooth and flows down the canal or groove to the apex. When the snake's mouth is closed, the poisonous teeth lie parallel to the roof of the mouth. When attacking, the mouth opens wide, and the poisonous teeth are directed downward or at a slight angle forward, and the snake plunges them into the victim.

All internal organs of snakes are elongated. The esophagus and stomach are of considerable length, the intestines are relatively short. The left lung is usually less developed or atrophies, the back of the right lung turns into a thin-walled air reservoir. Some snakes have a sac-like extension at the back of the trachea called the tracheal lung. There is no bladder.

The eyes of snakes are covered with a transparent cornea formed by fused eyelids. In diurnal snakes the pupil is round or in the form of a transverse slit, in nocturnal snakes it is vertical. Vision, like hearing, is not the main sensory organ of a snake and is less developed than in lizards. When attacking prey, a snake may miss, this especially often happens during molting, when the surface layer of the eyelids separates along with the skin and the eyes become cloudy. Due to the reduction of the middle ear and eardrum, snakes can only distinguish loud sounds that are accompanied by shaking of the air or soil.

The main sensory organ of a snake is its long tongue, forked at the end. When the mouth is closed, the tongue protrudes through the semicircular notch of the upper jaw, and when swallowing food it is retracted into a special muscular vagina. With the help of its tongue, the snake feels the surrounding objects; molecules of odorous substances that fall on the tongue are transferred to the paired organ of smell - the Jacobson organ. Based on smell, the snake can move and find prey in complete darkness. In addition, the tongue can serve as a temperature sensor. The same function is performed by special organs located on the head of some snakes (python, African viper, pit viper).

The brain of snakes is relatively small, but the spinal cord is well developed, therefore, despite the primitiveness of reactions, snakes are distinguished by good coordination of movements, their swiftness and accuracy.

The surface layer of the skin forms scutes and scales in the form of elongated plates, arranged in a tile-like manner; longitudinal elevations – ribs – are often visible on them. They play a big role in the movement of snakes living among rocks or in trees: due to the roughness of the integument, the snake can cling to uneven stones or bark. On the contrary, species living among thickets of grass and shrubs lack protrusions of scales, which in this case will only slow down movement.

Large head scutes are usually irregular shape; abdominal - hexagonal. They are located in one row, the last one is the anus - the abdominal shield is divided into two. Wriggling, the snake, with the help of its abdominal scutes, pushes off the surface on which it is crawling and moves forward. In addition, they protect internal organs. Sea snakes do not face such problems, and they lack ventral scutes. The subcaudal scutes can lie in one (slender boa, lizard snake) or two rows ( common viper, Amur snake).

When food is swallowed, the scutes and scales move apart, exposing previously hidden folds of skin. The scales are firmly connected to each other in longitudinal rows, but each row can move laterally relative to its neighbors. The abdominal scutes, on the contrary, diverge in the longitudinal direction. At the same time, the snake’s body lengthens.

Shedding occurs up to several times a year. The old skin begins to peel off in the lip area, curls up and gradually comes off. The transparent cornea of ​​the eyes is visible on the “creep”.

The color of the skin can change during life when molting. Coloration also depends on gender and individual characteristics snakes and in most cases performs a camouflage function.

Lifestyle.

All snakes are predators, many of them can capture prey that is significantly larger in size than the snake itself. Usually small and young snakes feed on worms, mollusks, insects, some - amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, rodents and more large mammals. Several months may pass between two meals.

In most cases, snakes lie motionless, lying in wait for prey, and then rush at it with amazing speed and immediately begin to swallow. Poisonous snakes bite and wait for the venom to take effect, while the boa constrictors wrap themselves around the victim and strangle it.

There are several ways snakes can move. Usually the snake bends in a zigzag manner and is pushed away by parts of its body adjacent to the ground. In the desert, snakes use the so-called “lateral move”: the body touches the surface at only two points, the front part of the body is moved sideways (in the direction of movement), then the back part is “pulled up”, etc. The “accordion” method of movement is distinguished by the fact that the snake’s body is gathered into tight loops, and the front part of the body moves forward. Large snakes move in a straight line with a “caterpillar gait,” clinging to the soil with their shields and straining the muscles of the abdominal part of the body.

Snakes are distributed everywhere, with the exception of New Zealand and small oceanic islands. They mastered life in the forest, steppe, desert, underground and even in the sea. The largest number of species live in warm countries East Asia and Africa; over 50% of Australia's snakes are venomous.

Some snakes favorable conditions can bear offspring up to several times per season, others do not reproduce every year (for example, the Caucasian viper). The bamboo keffiyeh, found in India and Pakistan, can reproduce all year round. Like most animals, snakes have their own "mating rituals" varying degrees difficulties. After mating, females are able to keep the partner’s sperm in an active state for quite a long time and do not need to meet the male again for new fertilization.

Usually the cubs hatch from eggs, but viviparity is also widespread (typical of sea snakes, boa constrictors, and vipers). The female develops a placenta through which the embryos receive oxygen, water and nutrients. Sometimes the female does not have time to lay her clutch, and the cubs hatch inside her reproductive tract. This case is called ovoviviparity (vipers, copperheads).

One clutch contains an average of 10 eggs. Embryonic development is dependent on temperature, so snakes ensure that the nest temperature is maintained at a high temperature and also protect the eggs from drying out.

Snakes typically live 5–10 years, with some individuals living up to 30–40 years.

Many birds and mammals (storks, eagles, crows, hedgehogs, representatives of the order Carnivores and even pigs), and even other snakes feed on snakes.

Snake poison.

Snake venom has a complex composition. It includes enzymes, changing or destroying many body substances, toxins, proteins with a specific effect. Different types snakes use different potent substances.

The venom of aspid and sea snakes contains neurotoxins and acetylcholinesterase, which destroys acetylcholine. In the body of a bitten animal, the transmission of signals from nerves to muscles is disrupted, and muscle paralysis develops. Most often, the animal dies from respiratory arrest.

The venom of viper and pit snakes causes an increase in permeability blood vessels, blood coagulation disorders and falls blood pressure. As a result, hemorrhagic swelling of tissues develops and their blood supply deteriorates.

There are many serums used to treat envenomation, some can be used against the venoms of several species of snakes.

Activity snake venom evaluated in MED - mouse action units: when studying various toxins, they are injected into laboratory mice and the amount of poison that can kill 50% of experimental animals is determined. 1 HONEY corresponds to the activity of 0.11 mg of viper venom or 0.0776 mg of viper venom.

About 500 species of snakes are dangerous to humans. It is believed that up to half a million people are bitten by snakes every year, of which up to 50 thousand die. Of course, this is not the most common cause of death in modern world. Snakes do not attack without reason and try to save their poison. The work of scientists to create serums has significantly reduced the number of deaths from snake bites. For example, in Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century. up to 10 thousand people died per year, today – 20 people

To obtain the serum, horses are injected with small amounts of poison. Over the course of several months, they develop immunity to the poison and antidote substances appear in the blood, which become the basis of the serum. Antidotes adsorb the poison, can oxidize it or form insoluble salts with it, and also, competing with the poison, displace it from compounds.

To obtain snake venom, snakes are kept in special rooms - serpentariums, the first of which was created at the end of the 19th century. in Sao Paulo (Brazil) at the Institute of Snake Research. Now in Russia there is a large serpentarium in Novosibirsk (there were more than ten of them in the USSR).

Snake venom in small doses is used in medicinal purposes, it has an anti-inflammatory effect, has an analgesic effect, and also stimulates tissue regeneration.

Classification.

The suborder Snakes are divided into 8–16 families. Main families:

Slepuny ( Typhlopidae). Small snakes with a worm-like body. Adapted to underground life: the head is covered with large scutes, the skull bones are tightly fused, the short tail serves as support for the body when the animal moves in the thickness of the soil. The eyes are almost completely reduced. Rudiments discovered in blind blinds pelvic bones. The family has about 170 species, most of which live in tropical and subtropical regions.

Pseudophods ( Boidae) got their name for the presence of rudiments of the hind limbs, which turned into claws on the sides of the anus. Pseudophods include the anaconda and the reticulated python - the largest modern snakes (can reach 10 m in length). Three subfamilies (Boas, Pythons and Sand boas) include about 80 species. They live in the tropics and subtropics, some species in the arid regions of Central Asia.

To the slate snakes ( Elapidae) includes more than 170 species, including cobras and mambas. Characteristic sign aspids - absence of the zygomatic shield. The body is elongated, the tail is short, the head is covered with large, regular-shaped scutes. Representatives of the family lead a terrestrial lifestyle and are distributed mainly in Africa and Australia.

Most sea snakes ( Hydrophiidae) never go onto land, they are adapted to life in water: voluminous lungs, valves that close the nostrils, a streamlined body and a paddle-shaped tail. Very poisonous. The family includes about 50 species living in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Viperaceae ( Viperidae) have a thick body with a flat head triangular shape, vertical pupil, well-developed venom glands and tracheal lung. The pit viper subfamily includes copperheads and rattlesnakes, and the true vipers include vipers, vipers and sand vipers. In total, the family includes about 120 species of snakes.

Colubridae ( Colybridae) - a family that includes about 70% of modern snakes (about 1,500 species). Snakes are ubiquitous; they are adapted to life in the forest floor, burrows, trees, semi-deserts or bodies of water. They have a variety of food preferences and modes of transportation. The family as a whole is characterized by the absence of a left lung, movable tubular teeth and vestigial hind limbs, as well as horizontal position upper jaw. Based on the structural features of teeth and scaly cover, several subfamilies are distinguished.

Snakes of Russia.

According to various sources, about 90 species of snakes live in Russia, including 10–16 poisonous species.

Already ordinary ( Natrix natrix) – large snake up to 140 cm long, inhabiting a vast territory from North Africa to Scandinavia, and in the east to Central Mongolia. In Russia it is widespread in the European part. Body color ranges from dark gray to black. On the sides of the head there are clearly visible light spots in the shape of a crescent, bordered by black stripes. It prefers to settle in damp places. It usually hunts during the day on frogs and toads, and occasionally on small lizards and birds. The snake is an active snake, crawls quickly, climbs trees and swims well. When detected, it tries to hide, and if this fails, it relaxes its muscles and opens its mouth wide, pretending to be dead. Large individuals curl up into a ball and hiss threateningly, but they rarely bite humans. In addition, in case of danger, it regurgitates recently caught prey (sometimes still quite viable) and can release a stinking liquid from the cloaca.

Medyanka ( Coronella austriaca) is a widely distributed snake in the European part of Russia, up to 65 cm long. The body color is from gray to red-brown, with several rows of dark spots along the body. By its round pupil, the copperhead can be distinguished from the viper, which is slightly similar to it. When in danger, the snake gathers its body into a tight ball and hides its head. When caught by a person, it fiercely defends itself and can bite through the skin until it bleeds.

In the book Poisonous animals and plants of the USSR The following venomous snakes are listed: common viper ( Vipera berus), steppe viper ( V. Ursini), Caucasian viper ( V. Kaznakovi), Asia Minor viper ( V. xanthina), long-nosed viper ( V. ammodytes), viper ( V. lebetina), common copperhead, or pallas ( Agkistrodon halys), eastern cottonmouth ( A. blomhoffi), multi-colored snake ( Coluber ravergieri), tiger snake ( Rhabdophis tigrina), copperhead (Coronella austriaca), Central Asian cobra ( Naja oxiana), sand faff ( Echis carinatus) and some others.

Common viper ( Vipera berus) is a relatively large snake, up to 75 cm long, with a thick body and a triangular head. Coloring ranges from gray to red-brown. There is a dark zigzag stripe along the body, an X-shaped pattern and three large shields are noticeable on the head - a frontal and two parietal. The pupil is vertical; the border between the head and neck is clearly visible.

The common viper is widespread in the forests and forest-steppe of the European part of Russia, Siberia and the Far East. Prefers forests with clearings, swamps, river banks and lakes. Settles in holes, rotten stumps, holes, among bushes. Vipers often overwinter in groups in burrows, under tree roots and haystacks. They leave the wintering area in March-April. During the day they like to bask in the sun; they usually hunt at night for small rodents, frogs, and chicks. They breed in mid-May, pregnancy lasts three months. The viper brings 8–12 cubs up to 17 cm long. A few days after birth, the first molt occurs. Further – at intervals of 1–2 times a month. Females are usually larger than males. Vipers live 11–12 years.

Meetings between vipers and humans occur quite often. It must be remembered that vipers like to spend warm days on open areas basking in the sun. At night, they can crawl to the fire and climb into the tent and sleeping bag. The distribution density of vipers is very uneven: you may not find a single snake in a sufficiently large area, but in suitable terrain they form entire “snake pockets”. Vipers are non-aggressive and will not attack a person first. They will always take the opportunity to hide.

Steppe viper ( Vipera Ursini) differs from the ordinary one in its smaller size and pointed edges of the muzzle. The coloring is duller; on the body, in addition to the zigzag pattern along the ridge, there are dark spots on the sides. It lives in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia, in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Lives 7–8 years.

Common copperhead ( Agkistrodon halys) inhabits a vast area from the mouth of the Volga to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Body length is up to 70 cm, color is gray or brown with wide dark spots along the ridge.

The tiger snake is a brightly colored snake Far East. Top part the body is usually bright green with black transverse stripes. In the front part of the body, the scales in the spaces between the stripes are red. Body length up to 110 cm. On the upper side of the neck there are the so-called nucho-dorsal glands. Their pungent secretion repels predators. The tiger snake prefers damp places and feeds on frogs, toads and fish.

Central Asian cobra ( Naja oxiana) is a large snake (up to 160 cm in length) brown or olive in color. An irritated cobra raises the front part of its body and inflates the “hood” on its neck. When attacking, it makes several lightning-fast throws, one of which ends in a bite. Distributed in the southern regions of Central Asia.

Sandy efa ( Echis carinatus) is a sand-colored snake up to 80 cm long. There are transverse light stripes along the ridge, and light zigzag lines on the sides of the body. It feeds on small rodents and birds, frogs and other snakes. Efu is distinguished by the swiftness of its throws; When moving, it makes a dry rustling sound. Distributed from east coast Caspian to the Aral Sea.

Elena Semeyko

Snakes are scaly reptiles and live on all continents of the globe except Antarctica. These are predatory creatures that feed on birds and mammals, hunting them and killing them using their own poison. The mobility and flexibility of their body allows them to move without limbs, flatten themselves when passing through narrow crevices, and suffocate their victims by wrapping around them. The muscle corset is the main structure of the body of these reptiles, but they also have a skeleton. This article will discuss the principles of movement of snakes, the structure of their skeleton and the characteristics of their venom.

Characteristics of snakes

Snakes are distinguished from other reptiles by their elongated body, devoid of limbs, movable eyelids above the eyes and eardrums in the hearing aid. Their body shape resembles worms - the only difference is that the surface of their body is dry and covered with scales. The body length of adult individuals varies from 10 cm to 12 m or more.

The color of their scales almost always has the color of the environment in which they live. Terrestrial reptiles are characterized by green, brown, woody and black tones. Reptiles that live in tropical forests, have predominantly bright colors - blue, emerald green, yellow, like reptiles living in warm ocean waters.

Important! The poisonous teeth of snakes are not visible when the mouth is closed, and they appear only when the snake opens its mouth and points them at the enemy. Do not touch these reptiles, even if it seems to you that they do not have long teeth with poison.

These creatures are most common in tropical areas South America, South Asia, in and . They are slightly less common in temperate and continental climate, at latitudes close to the poles. Snakes are completely absent from New Zealand and Ireland. Hot climate it is preferable for them, since they are cold-blooded creatures and maintain a high body temperature solely due to the ambient temperature.

The longer and stronger the reptile, the larger the size of its prey. These predators feed on a variety of creatures, ranging from small insects to large mammals. There are individuals that eat only one type of food. Thus, egg reptiles are able to eat exclusively bird eggs - other food is not available for them to digest. The prey is always swallowed whole, and then gradually digested in the intestines.

Skeletal structure

The question of whether snakes have a skeleton can be answered in the affirmative. Despite their amazing flexibility, these reptiles have a hard bony skeleton, which is characterized by freedom of articulation.

Diapsid type with reduced temporal arches, kinetic - the bones are able to move apart significantly. The bones of the skull are divided into several types: quadrate, pterygoid, palatine, squamosal, temporal and maxillary. The jaws are separated in the center by elastic ligaments, and connected to each other in the same movable way, which allows the snake to stretch its mouth to the size of its killed prey.
Structure of a snake's skull

Teeth

Well developed, located on the upper and lower jaws. Have a thin acute form, convenient for gradually pushing food deep into the esophagus. Snake teeth are not intended for chewing. Non-venomous reptiles have only short and thin teeth.

Did you know? The longest living snake belongs to the species reticulated pythons. Its length exceeds 12 meters and its weight is about 160 kilograms. This reptile lives in the Tama Zoological Garden in Tokyo. Another snake named Baby surpassed its relative in weight - in 1998, at the age of 25, she weighed 182.5 kg. This record was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Poisonous species have elongated front teeth, similar to fangs curved inwards. Poison teeth are hollow inside and connected to poison glands. When biting, the reptile inserts poisonous teeth into the body of the prey and injects poison along them. In some species, the front teeth can rotate 90 degrees when the mouth opens.

Spine and ribs

Since this creature has no limbs, its spine does not have specific sections. It is flexible, long, homogeneous, consists of identical vertebrae, to the lower part of which the ribs are movably attached. The longer the reptile, the more vertebrae it has: short and thick reptiles have an average of 150 vertebrae, and thin and long ones - up to 430. Snakes do not have a sternum, so they can stretch significantly in width, flatten and curl into as many rings as possible their length.
Snake skeleton

Front and hind limbs

Completely atrophied. Some species have minor rudiments of the pelvic bones. Other species have a single pair of internal claws on either side of the anus, like vestigial hind limbs.

Features of movement

This reptile moves mainly due to contraction of the body muscles and special movable scales on the abdomen.

Important! Some snakes are capable of jumping considerable distances by curling up into a tight spring and then throwing themselves far forward. If you see that the reptile is shaking its tail in warning, opening its mouth and starting to tense its body, slowly back away from it without making sudden movements.

There are four types of movement, the use of which depends on the size of the reptile and its habitat:

1. Straightforward. Used exclusively by large individuals such as pythons, anacondas and boa constrictors. A snake moving in a straight line pushes itself forward by contracting the skin of its abdomen, and then pulls up the tail part of its body.
2. Parallel. Reptiles that live in desert areas move in this way. climatic zones with sandy soils. They throw sideways and forward head part the torso, and then the back part of the body is carried out after the head. In this case, a complex pattern is formed on the sand, consisting of parallel strips bent into hooks at the ends.
3. Concertina. Also known as “accordion”, this method is typical for reptiles that live in trees. They gather their bodies into horizontal loops, throw their heads forward, straightening their bodies, and then pull their tails behind them, forming a new accordion.
4. Serpentine. Classic way movement, known to almost everyone. This is a wavy, gliding motion that snakes use to move both on land and in water. An S-shaped movement occurs due to contraction of the lateral abdominal muscles.

Snake venom

Produced by the salivary glands, which are connected by a muscular canal to the two largest poisonous teeth. These teeth may be hollow or have a special groove on the front. At the moment of the bite, the muscles compress the poisonous gland, the poison from it enters the tooth cavity and flows through the groove through the wound into the muscle tissue of the prey. Some types of snakes spit their venom and at the same time aim for the eyes of the victim.

Did you know? Average duration The lifespan of snakes is 25–30 years, but there are exceptions to this rule. In April 1977, a male python named Popeye died at the Philadelphia Zoo. At that time, the unique centenarian turned 40 years, 3 months and 14 days.

Snake venom causes instant blindness, using which the reptile attacks its prey. The poison can affect nervous system causing paralysis, or cardiovascular system, causing spasms and swelling. The most poisonous and dangerous reptile considered to be from the asp family. Its bite is ten times more poisonous than that of a rattlesnake.
The snake is scaly reptile, living mainly in tropical and desert regions. It has an elongated muscular body with a simple movable skeleton, moves by crawling and obtains food for itself by suffocating prey or biting it with poisonous teeth. The venom of some reptiles is not dangerous to humans, but the bite of others can lead to quick death, therefore wildlife You should stay away from snakes of a species unknown to you.

Everything about everything. Volume 5 Likum Arkady

Where is the snake's heart?

Where is the snake's heart?

When we look at a snake, we see a long, slippery animal that has no legs, and it seems to us that the head is simply attached to long tail. But between the head and tail is a large, complex body. The snake has a backbone digestive system, liver and heart, muscles, glands and other organs that are found in all vertebrates.

The most amazing feature snakes - lack of legs. Other characteristic property- the absence of movable eyelids, which gives the snake’s gaze a hypnotizing effect. Most snakes have one lung. Therefore it remains more space for other organs. But pythons and some other snakes have two lungs. Snakes do not have ears on the outside of their heads. But they are very sensitive to earth vibrations. They also have other senses that supplement hearing.

Most snakes have good vision. They notice the victim more by movement than by shape and color. Snakes have a well-developed sense of smell; they can clearly distinguish by the smell of animals suitable for food, enemies and each other. Snakes can collect particles from the air, earth and other objects and use special organs to determine chemical composition food and other items.

From the book Encyclopedic Dictionary (E-Y) author Brockhaus F.A.

Snakes Snakes (Ophidia s. Serpentes) are an order of reptiles (Reptilia). The elongated, legless body is covered with scales and scutes; the tail is more or less long; the jaws, and often other bones, are armed with teeth that do not sit in sockets; no shoulder girdle, forelimbs or sternum

From the book Big Soviet Encyclopedia(BO) of the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (ZM) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MO) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (TO) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (CI) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (SHI) by the author TSB

From the book The Complete Encyclopedia of Our Misconceptions author

From the book The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Our Misconceptions [with illustrations] author Mazurkevich Sergei Alexandrovich

Snakes - Tell me, doctor, what should be done if a snake bites you? - First of all, you need to find out why she bit you. Perhaps you stepped on it. If so, be sure to apologize to her. - Will this really help? - At least you will die with a clear conscience! From

From the book The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Our Misconceptions [with transparent pictures] author Mazurkevich Sergei Alexandrovich

Snakes - Tell me, doctor, what should be done if a snake bites you? - First of all, you need to find out why she bit you. Perhaps you stepped on it. If so, be sure to apologize to her. - Will this really help? - At least you will die with a clear conscience! From

From the book Great Atlas of Healing Points. Chinese medicine to protect health and longevity author Koval Dmitry

Heart and blood vessels: hypertension, arrhythmia, help with heart pain Serious heart diseases are treated by a doctor. Unfortunately, reflexology will not help if angina pectoris, narrowing of the lumen of the coronary arteries, and others are diagnosed. For acute or persistent pain in the heart area

From the book I Explore the World. Live nature from A to Z author Lyubarsky Georgy Yurievich

Snakes In total, about 3 thousand species of snakes are known on Earth, of which 300–400 species are poisonous. Snakes have mastered everything possible places a habitat. They are found in forests, mountains, steppes and deserts, in seas and oceans. Most snakes, of course, are in the tropics. There are both burrowing snakes and ground snakes,

From the book Animal World author Sitnikov Vitaly Pavlovich

How do snakes crawl? Snakes are very agile and dexterous animals. They can crawl, and quite quickly, not only on flat terrain, but also on mountains, through trees, some of them can swim, and they do all this without having arms or legs. Experts say that snakes

From the book The Complete Encyclopedia of Mythological Creatures. Story. Origin. Magic properties by Conway Deanna

Where does a snake have venom? Currently on everything globe there are about 2400 various types snake. Of these, only 412 are poisonous. But not all of these snakes are dangerous to humans. Some poisonous snakes have such weak venom that it can only kill a lizard or a frog. But

From the author's book

13. Magical snakes In the vast majority of cultures, snakes were considered a symbol of the Goddess and/or kundalini energy. In addition, they were believed to be immortal, since they shed their skin, and it seemed that they had a new life. The Greeks called the skin shed by snakes geras,

From the author's book

Snakes of Sheba Ancient Arabic legends tell of unusual form snakes called the snakes of Sheba. These royal purple snakes were believed to live in or near the Temple of the Moon located in Marib, the capital of the state of Sheba. Instead of crawling on the ground,