What is a snake?

Answer 1

Snakes (from Old English snaca, and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European base snag- or sneg-, "to crawl"), also known as ophidians, are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. There are also several species of legless lizard which superficially resemble snakes, but are not otherwise related to them. A love of snakes is called ophiophilia, a fear of snakes is called ophidiophobia. A specialist in snakes is an ophiologist.

An old synonym for snake is serpent (which comes from Old French, and ultimately from *serp-, "to creep"); in modern usage this usually refers to a mythic or symbolic snake, and information about such creatures will be found under serpent (symbolism). This article deals with the biology of snakes.


The phylogeny of snakes is poorly known due to the fact that snake skeletons are typically small and fragile, making fossilization unlikely. It has however been generally agreed, on the basis of morphology, that snakes descended from lizard-like ancestors. Recent research based on genetics and biochemistry confirms this; snakes form a venom clade with several extant lizard families.

Recent fossil evidence suggests that snakes directly evolved from burrowing lizards, either varanids or some other group. An early fossil snake, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum, fully terrestrial. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo, although it also is semi-aquatic. As these ancestors became more subterranean, they lost their limbs and became more streamlined for burrowing. Features such as the transparent, fused eyelids and loss of external ears, according to this hypothesis, evolved to combat subterranean conditions (scratched corneas, dirt in the ears). According to this hypothesis, snakes re-emerged onto the surface of the land much as they are today. Other primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs but lacked a direct connection of the pelvic bones to the vertebrae, including Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis) which are slightly older than Najash.

Modern boas do have vestigal hind limbs, tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs and used to grasp during mating.

The alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests that ancestors were related to mosasaurs — extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous — which in turn are thought to have derived from varanid lizards. Under this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), while the external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment, ultimately leading to an animal similar in appearance to sea snakes of today. In the Late Cretaceous, snakes re-colonized the land much like they are today. Fossil snake remains are known from early Late Cretateous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis, particularly as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina. Similar skull structure; reduced/absent limbs; and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to a positive cladistical correlation, though some features are also shared with varanids. Supposedly similar locomotion for both groups is also used as support for this hypothesis. Genetic studies have indicated that snakes are not especially related to monitor lizards, and (it has been claimed) therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, there is more evidence linking mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmentary remains that have been found from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may eventually refute either hypothesis.

The great diversity of modern snakes appeared in the Paleocene, probably correlated with the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Oh and if you get a snake, be careful!

-chad

Answer 2

The copperhead comes out in July (usually at dusk) in Southern States because it's the breeding season and also because Cicadas are one of their favorite foods. The protocol for medical personnel dealing with snake bite victims has changed dramatically in the last few years. If your bit, remain calm. Clean the area of the bite. Not necessary to put ice or tourniquet around it, (restricts blood flow). Keep bitten limb below the level of the heart. Do not suck the venom out. It is not necessary to bring in the snake. In one recent case the victim's family brought in a large Copperhead they had killed and showed it to the nurse and then she had to be treated for shock in the emergency room! By the way, it was a " Serpent", not a snake that was in the garden of Eden.

Answer 3

snake >noun 1 a predatory reptile with a long slender limbless body, many kinds of which have a venomous bite. 2 (also snake in the grass) a treacherous or deceitful person. >verb move or extend with the twisting motion of a snake.
-ORIGIN Old English.

Exat definitions

Answer 4

HEY!! u dont know what snake is?.... everybody know that!! ok the some snake is very dangerous and some not..... some snake is big and some small like worm.....lol if u see something animal slide on grass, DONT pick or touch it!! it will BITE u!! or kill u......many kind of snake name or colors......

Answer 5

A reptile that can hug you. The symbol for Slytherin House. One of two animals on the caduceus used as a symbol for medical doctors. The creature accused of getting Adam and Eve kicked out of Paradise. The creature used as a symbol of St. Patrick kicking the pagans out of Ireland. An interesting and sometimes entertaining pet. Great material for a belt or hat band. I'm told that roasted they taste rather like chicken, although I've never tried it.

Answer 6

a snake is a reptile and according to the bible part of the reason we no longer live in the garden of eden

Answer 7

Snake is a reptile without legs which slithers. Some of them are poisonous and can kill us.

Answer 8

A plumbers tool for clearing pipes

Answer 9

A reptile that bites and has no legs. It slides on the ground.

Answer 10

A very large worm.