News tagged with snakes
Mamba venom holds promise for pain relief
Scientists have used the venom of Africa's lethal black mamba to produce a surprising outcome in mice which they hope to replicate in humans—effective pain relief without toxic side effects.
Medical research
Oct 03, 2012 |
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REM sleep enhances emotional memories, study shows
(Medical Xpress)—Witnessing a car wreck or encountering a poisonous snake are scenes that become etched in our memories.
Neuroscience
Dec 18, 2012 |
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Python venom traces could waste antivenom
A University of Queensland researcher has found the potential for Australian doctors to prescribe expensive antivenom to snake bite victims who don't need it.
Other
Apr 16, 2013 |
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Adrenaline given before snakebite anti-venom treatment reduces allergic reactions
Giving low-dose adrenaline to patients who have been bitten by a poisonous snake before treatment with the appropriate antivenom is safe and reduces the risk of acute severe reactions to the treatment, but giving promethazine ...
Other
May 10, 2011 |
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Study demonstrates how fear can skew spatial perception
That snake heading towards you may be further away than it appears. Fear can skew our perception of approaching objects, causing us to underestimate the distance of a threatening one, finds a study published in Current Bi ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 22, 2012 |
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Snake
Snakes are elongate legless carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Like lizards, from which they evolved, they have loosely articulated skulls and most can swallow prey much larger than their own head. In order to accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca.
Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica. Fifteen families are currently recognized comprising 456 genera and over 2,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10 cm long thread snake to pythons and anacondas of up to 7.6 m (25 ft) in length. The recently discovered fossil Titanoboa was 13 m or 43 ft long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards during the Cretaceous period (c 150 Ma). The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene period (c 66 to 56 Ma).
Most species are non-venomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans.
For more information about Snake, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
