Section 18.2-- Snakes: The Most Widespread Reptiles Flashcards
legless vertebrates with long, cylindrical bodies covered with dry scales
are more widely distributed than lizards
snakes
one of the smallest snakes
blind snake
largest known snakes
Asian python
S. American anaconda
the longest snake of N. America
indigo snake
a long chain of vertebrae designed to allow the snake to bend easily
vertebral column
most snakes move by ________________
bends into a series of curves as it keeps its body flat on the ground
lateral undulation
many thick bodied snakes such as African puff adders and Asian pythons, use _____________________ when stalking prey
when the snake alternately stretches and shortens segments of its body to creep forward in a straight line
rectilinear movement
method of movement used by snakes to move across smooth surfaces or to climb through trees
concertina movement (scrunches up)
desert-dwelling snakes use _______________ to cross the sand
lifts several parts of body and the head to move sideways
sidewinding movement
the fastest known snakes is the
black mamba
the four methods of snake locomotion are
lateral undulation
rectilinear movement
concertina movement
sidewinding movement
the snake’s lower jaws are mot attached directly to the skull but are attached to a separate _______________ which loosely attaches to skull to the lower jaw on each side
quadrate bone
a snake’s primary instrument of smelling
forked tongue
the snake flicks out its tongue to pick up scents in the air,when the snake retracts its tongue, these scent particles are carried to the _________________
two cavities in the roof of its mouth containing nerve endings that are extremely sensitive to odor
Jacobson’s organ
enables many snakes to eat prey larger than their mouth
double-hinged jaws
T/F: Snakes eat their prey whole
TUE
zoologists who study reptiles and amphibians
herpetologists
a familiar family of nonvenomous snakes that overcome their prey by constriction
boid family (constrictors)
the three largest snakes
pythons
anacondas
boas
most constrictors are _______________ in size
moderate or small
over two thirds of all snakes are __________
the largest group of living snakes
colubrids
group of snakes that may be thick, slender, arboreal, aquatic, terrestrial, small, moderate-sized, venomous etc
colubrids
familiar colubrids in N America
garter snake
water snakes
hognose snake
ringneck snakes
scientists group venomous snakes according to their ___________
hollow or grooved venom-injecting teeth
fangs
snakes with immovable fangs in the front of the upper jaw
are all venomous
elapids
the most renowned elapids
cobras
the longest venomous snake
king cobra
has the largest, most spectacular hood
Indian cobra
known as aggressive elapids in Africa; have highly potent venom
mambas
aquatic elapids that are all venomous
sea snakes
contains the vipers of the Old World and the pit vipers, which can be found in all continents except Australia in the tropical and temperate regions
viperid family
has a sensory depression or pit on each side of its head between the eye and the nostril
its sensory organ contains nerves that are highly sensitive to heat
pit vipers
US viper that is aggressive and may attack without provocation
cottonmouth
the two basic type of poisons in snake venom
neurotoxin
hemotoxin
poison in snake venom that affects the nervous system, which controls the functions of the heart, lungs, and muscles
neurotoxin
poison in snake venom that damages blood vessels and destroys red blood cells
hemotoxin
antibodies that attack the toxin molecules and neutralize their affects
antitoxins
