Snake
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
| Snake |
|---|
|
| Scientific Classification |
| Families |
|
Snakes, also known as ophidians, are vertebrate animals which are carnivores and are widely eclectic when it comes to being viviparous, ovoviviparous, or oviparous.
Contents |
Poisonous Snakes
Most venomous snakes are classified by four major groups:
Elapids - cobras, king cobras, kraits, mambas, Australian copperheads, and coral snakes. Viperids - vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads/cottonmouths, adders and bushmasters. Colubrids - boomslangs, tree snakes, vine snakes, mangrove snakes, and many others, though not all colubrids are venomous. Hydrophiidae - sea snakes
Most Snakes are broken up into two major, broad groups:
- Short, fixed-fanged snakes, which include the coral snake, cobras, and sea snakes.
- Long, retractable-fanged snakes, which include vipers and pit vipers.
Anatomy
Their eyelids are transparent "spectacle" scales which remain permanently closed, called brille. A snake's sense of vision is nothing special, in fact, it is especially bad compared to other animals. Snakes have no external ears, but they do have a bone called the quadrate under the skin on either side of the head which focuses sound into the cochlea.[2] A snake smells by using its forked tongue to collect airborne particles then passing them to the Jacobson's organ or the Vomeronasal organ in the mouth for examination. The fork in the tongue gives the snake a sort of directional sense of smell. Their skin is covered in scales. Most snakes use specialized belly scales to move, gripping surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. They shed their skin periodically, and unlike other reptiles, this is done in one piece. The primary purpose of shedding is to grow.
Reproduction
It's been confirmed that the entire group of "snakes" carries on viviparous, ovoviparous, and oviparous techniques. A wide array of reproductive procedures are carried on by snakes. All snakes undergo internal fertilization, using paired, forked hemipenes, which are stored, inverted, in the male's tail. Recently, it has been confirmed that several species of snake are fully viviparous, such as the green anaconda, nourishing their young through a placenta as well as a yolk sac, highly unusual among reptiles, or indeed anything else outside of placental mammals.[1]
Ecology
Snakes use a many different types of movement to achieve the locomotion desired, despite their legless condition, and there are a total of four main types of these motions. All snakes can use: 1Lateral undulation, (where the body is flexed side-to-side, and the flexed areas propagate posteriorly, giving the overall shape of a posteriorly propagating sine wave), 2Concertina movement, (used to both climb trees and move through small tunnels) In the case of tunnels, the body loops are pressed against the tunnel walls to attain traction,3 Rectilinear Locomotion, where the snake lies straight and uses it's ventral side to accomplish locomotion,(this mode is usually only used by very large, heavy snakes, such as large pythons and vipers), And 4, Sidewinding, an undulatory motion used to move across slippery mud or loose sand.
Not all snakes dwell on land; sea snakes live in shallow tropical seas.
Snakes In Modern Culture
Snakes are one of the 'biggest' fears in the world, ranking only third in most studies to public speaking and spiders. Snakes are found very commonly in the world, not just as animals, but in pictures, toys, movies, and religion. In the Chinese Zodiac, it's a celestial animal, and in Greek Mythology snakes are often portrayed as symbolic of evil, like Medusa's hair made of snakes, or the nine-headed Hydra that Hercules defeated. And, of course, the infamous appearance of Satan in the Bible when Satan is portrayed as a serpent, and he tempts Adam and Eve, and causes the fall of man. Snakes are often used in movies, my example being the picture shown to the left. A love of snakes is called ophiophilia, a fear of snakes is called ophidiophobia. A specialist in snakes is an ophiologist.
Gallery
 |
 |
 |
 |
Related References
- Wikipedia Snakes
- Herp Snakes
- Wikipedia Snakes
- CreationWiki Mamba
