Physics of snakeskin sheds light on sidewinding

Most snakes get from A to B by bending their bodies into S-shapes and slithering forward headfirst. A few species, however—found in the deserts of North America, Africa and the Middle East—have an odder way of getting ...

Death in the long grass: Myanmar's snake bite menace

Swaying with the hypnotic rhythm of the king cobra rearing up in front of him, Myanmar snake charmer Sein Tin feels protected from the venomous kiss of his dancing partner by an intricate array of "magical" tattoos.

Team proposes new model for snake venom evolution

Technology that can map out the genes at work in a snake or lizard's mouth has, in many cases, changed the way scientists define an animal as venomous. If oral glands show expression of some of the 20 gene families associated ...

How the snake got its venom

The venom of advanced snakes is a mixture of dozens of different proteins and is an example of an evolutionary innovation – a novel trait that has arisen in a particular animal group and which has contributed to their success. ...

Unusual prey: Spiders eating snakes

There are spiders that eat snakes. Observations of snake-eating spiders have been reported around the world. Two researchers from Basel and the US consolidated and analyzed over 300 reports of this unusual predation strategy.

Tomb of Maya queen K'abel discovered in Guatemala

(Phys.org)—Archaeologists in Guatemala have discovered the tomb of Lady K'abel, a seventh-century Maya Holy Snake Lord considered one of the great queens of Classic Maya civilization.

The barred grass snake is described as a separate species

Together with an international team, Senckenberg scientists identified a new species of snake in Europe. Based on more than 1,600 snakes, the researchers were able to show that the barred grass snake, whose range includes ...

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