Scary and Unique Snakes

Snakes are carnivorous reptiles, legless with elongated body of the “Serpentes” family, that can be easily compared and distinguished from the legless lizards, because of the “absence” of eyelids and external ears. Like all scaled reptiles (squamata or squamates), snakes are cool-blooded (ectothermic), group of vertebrates that have an amnion during embryonic development, including reptiles, birds, and mammals (amniote) covered in overlapping scales. Most snake species have skulls with many more joints than their lizard ancestors, making it possible for the snakes to swallow their prey that are much larger than their heads with their highly mobile jaws. The snakes paired organs, like their kidneys, is located one in front of the other instead of side by side because of their body narrow stature, and most have only one functional lung. Some snake species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial (useless organ) claws on either side of the cloaca (posterior opening that serves as the only opening for the intestinal, urinary tract and reproductive,  of certain animal species). Most snake species are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some snakes, possess venom substance, enough to cause death, or  severe injury to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction, by striking, pulling and holding at its prey, and coils on its prey then wrap one or two coils around their prey until their prey will die of asphyxia (lack of breath), which is contrary to myth that the snakes crush or break the bones of their preys, before swallowing it in whole.

1)  Horned Viper  (Vipera Ammodytes)

Cerastes Cornotus or Sand  Horned Viper

Cerastes Cornotus or Cerastes Cerastes or Sand viper, most venomous snake found in Egypt.

2)  Atheris hispida

Atheris hispida is a viper species and venomous found in Central Africa, commonly know for its keeled or rough scales or bristly in appearance. The Atheris hispida common name is hairy bush viper, but must not use for this species, as it will be confused with the recently described species, A. hirsuta, the specific name for hairy.  Rough-scaled bush viper, spiny bush viper,   hairy bush viper,   rough-scaled tree viper   African hairy bush viper.   Capable of climbing reeds and stalks, this species is often found basking on top of flowers and terminal leaves. Mostly nocturnal.    Feeds on mammals, frogs, lizards and sometimes birds. Sometimes hunts for mammalian prey on the ground.

3)  Langaha Nasuta  or Leaf Nosed snake

One of the most scary and unique snakes in the world, is called the Langaha or leaf-nosed snake , is a vine snake named after its arboreal lifestyle. One of the Langaha snake trait, is their weird horn or odd snouts. The Langaha Males and females of the snake have different features, the male leaf-nosed snake is yellowish smooth sharp skin or scales, and has a horn, while the females have brown rough skin.

4)  Long Nosed Vine Snake

The slender green tree snake is called Green vine snake (Ahaetulla nasuta), and are diurnal and mild-venomous snake species, commonly found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Green vine snakes,  feeds on lizards and frogs, by using their “binocular vision in hunting their preys. They moved slow movin, relying on camouflaging as a leaf in vine. When the  is disturbed, they expands its body showing a black and white scale marking, and open their mouth to display threat and point their head in the direction of their “predators”. In southern India, they believed the myth that these Nosed-leaf snake species uses its pointed head to blind their human victims.

5)  Tentacled Snake

The rear-fanged aquatic snake is known as the tentacled snake (Erpeton tentaculatum),native to South-East Asia. In the genus Erpeton, it is the only species and the two tentacles on its snout are a scary and unique feature among snakes. The purpose of these tentacles, is used to catch fish has recently been a subject of research. The tentacled snakes, though it have venomous fangs, the tentacled snake is not considered dangerous to humans. Their fangs are small, only partially grooved, and positioned deep in the rear of the mouth, and their venom is specific to the fish that the tentacled snake eats.

6)  Elehant Trunk Snake  or Acrochordidae

The Acrochordidae or wart snakes are a monotypic family created for the genus Acrochordus. This is a group of primitive aquatic snakes are commonly found in Australia and Indonesia. Three species of these Acrochordidae are recognized. Their common names are wart snakes, Java wart snakes, file snakes, elephant-trunk snakes, and dogface snakes. All these species are entirely aquatic, lacking the broad belly-scales found in most other snakes and possessed dorsally located eyes. The wart snakes most notable feature is their scary and unique scales and skins. Their skin is loose and baggy, giving the impression of being several sizes too large for the snake, and the scales, rather than overlapping, are tiny pyramidal projections that led to their common names. The wart snakes are ambush predators, that lurks at the bottom of rivers, streams and estuaries, and waiting for fish to approach, and they grip the fish with their coils, allowing their “rough scales” to hold the fish despite of its slimy mucus coating.

7)  Sea Snakes

Aipysurus is a venomous sea snakes genus found in warm seas from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. There are seven species of the Aipysurus  species currently recognized.

Colubrine Sea Krait,  banded sea krait or yellow-lipped sea krait

The colubrine sea krait, banded sea krait or yellow-lipped sea krait (Laticauda colubrina) is a sea snake species of  found in Indo-Pacific tropical oceanic waters.

Laticauda Laticaudata sea snake

The sea snake species known as blue-lipped sea krait (Laticauda laticaudata).

Spine-bellied Sea snake

The Spine-bellied Sea snake, or Hardwicke’s Spine-bellied Sea snake, (Lapemis hardwickii) is a sea snake species.

Water Snakes (Fresh Water)

The green water snake (Nerodia cyclopion) is a common species of nonvenomous snake found in the southeastern United States.

Nerodia rhombifer, commonly known as the diamondback water snake, is a water snake species of commonly found throughout of the central United States and northern of Mexico, a nonvenomous and a member of the colubrid family.

The Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon) is a large, nonvenomous, famous Colubridae snake family that is native to North America.

Pelamis platura

Pelamis platura, commonly known as the yellow-bellied sea snake, yellowbelly sea snake, or pelagic sea snake, is a sea snake species found in tropical oceanic waters in many parts of the world, and the only member of the genus Pelamis.   These snakes use their neurotoxic venom against their fish prey, and no recorded human fatalities from envenomation are known. These snakes breed in warm waters and these snake species are ovoviviparous with a gestation period of about six months.

8)  Burrowing Asp

Atractaspis is a genus of venomous snakes commonly found in subsaharan Africa, with limited distribution in Israel and Arabian Peninsula and have 15 species recognized by ITIS. Their common names are, burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers, stiletto snakes, side-stabbing snakes.

Blind snakes or Thread-snakes

Ramphotyphlops braminus is a harmless and nonvenomous blind snake species mostly found in Africa and Asia, but nowadays, these species has been introduced in many other parts of the world. Completely fossorial (burrowing or digging), they are often mistaken for earthworms, except that they are not segmented. The specific name is a Latinized form of the word “Brahmin”, which is a caste among Hindus.

Leptotyphlops humilis

Leptotyphlops humilis is a blind snake species found in northern Mexico and southwestern States. Nine subspecies are currently recognized and characterized, including the nominated subspecies. The blindsnake common names are, western slender blind snake and western thread-snakes. This unique species, have similarity with the long earthworm. It lives underground in burrows, and since it has no use for vision, its eyes are mostly useless organs or vestigial. The western blind snake is pink, purple, or silvery-brown in color, shiny, worm like, cylindrical and blunt at both ends, and has light-detecting black eyespots. The snake’s skull is thick to permit burrowing, and it has a spine at the end of its tail that it uses for leverage.

10) Scary and Unique  Flying Snakes  

Chrysopelea ornata is a colubrid snake (typically harmless snakes of the Colubridae family, having no vestigial limbs, scaly covered head and body, which includes the king snakes, garter snakes, and water snakes), commonly found in South and Southeast Asia.  It can be along with the other species in its genus Chrysopelea, and the most unique and very unusual with these flying snakes, that they are capable of a type of gliding flight (thus they are named flying snakes) and a rear-fanged snake. Nowadays, there are three subspecies being recognized. The striking appearance of the flying snakes and their “unique” ability to glide which makes them popular choice  for captivity. The Crysopelea ornata are commonly green in color, with black cross-hatching, with yellow or gold color accents. The slender body, of the flying snakes is far less so than in other tree snakes, and has a flat- head with constricted neck, a blunt nose and large eyes with round pupils.

Paradise Flying Snake

Paradise Tree Snake or Paradise Flying Snake or Chrysopelea paradisi is a species of snake found in Asia, and just other like species, it can glide from the top of a tree, by stretching the body into a flattened strip using its ribs. Commonly found in moist forests and can cover a horizontal distance of about 100 meters gliding from the top of a tree. Slow motion photography shows an undulation of the snake’s body in flight while the head remains relatively stable, suggesting controlled flight. They are mildly venomous with rear fangs and also can constrict its prey mostly lizards and bats. The Paradise flying snakes are commonly found in Phuket, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Andaman Islands in India, Myanmar, Burma, Mayala and East Malaysia, (Sulu Archipelago, Panay and Negros Oriental) in the Philippines and (Bangka, Belitung, Java, Mentawai Archipelago, Natuna Archipelago, Nias, Riau Archipelago, Sumatra, We, Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia), and Singapore.

10) Rhabdophis  subminiatus  or Red-necked Keelback

The red-necked keelback (Rhabdophis subminiatus) is a species of snake in the Colubridae family. The snake has a greenish hue with red and yellow regions near the head. It grows to 70 to 90 cm in length, lives generally near the ponds, where it consumes fish and frogs. The red-necked keelback is a rear-fanged species, which many have thought that these snake species are “harmless”, but following one fatal and several near-fatal scary envenomations, the toxicity of its venom, there was a research and studies about their toxic level. And the result, it was reclassified as a scary dangerous species.These snakes need to bite and hold on, or, repeatedly bite to have any effect on humans. This snake is poisonous due to its diet of poisonous frogs.

11)  Bungarus Snakes  (Elapid Snakes Group)

Bungarus, commonly referred to as kraits (pronounced “crates”), is a venomous elapid snakes found in South and South-East Asia. There are 13 species and 5 subspecies, nominal is not included. Kraits are found in the Indian subcontinent that includes,  Sri Lanka and eastern Pakistan, southeast Asia hat includes Borneo and Indonesia. Kraits are opiophagous, they prey on other venomous and non-venomous snakes and known as cannibalistic eating other kraits species. They also eat mice and small lizards. All kraits are nocturnal, and they are more docile during the daylight, and become active during night time, but less aggressive when provoked. They are actually timid, and oftentimes  hide their heads within their coiled bodies for protection, and while in this posture, they  sometimes whip their tail around as a type of distraction.

The common krait (Bungarus caeruleus, also known as Indian krait or Blue krait) is a Bungarus genus species found in the Indian subcontinent jungles, and one of the member of the “ Big Four” species inflicting numerous cases of snakebites in India. The Indian krait’s venom consists mostly of scary and powerful neurotoxins including muscle paralysis. Clinically, its venom contains pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neurotoxins, which affects generally the nerve endings near the Brain’s synaptic cleft.

” Big Four”

Ringed Water Cobra (Boulengerina annulata) 

Indochinese spitting cobra

The Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis) also called the Thai spitting cobra or black-and-white spitting cobra is a spitting cobra species of commonly found in Southeast Asia.  This is a medium-sized cobra with a rather thick body. The body color of this species is variable from grey to brown to black, with white spots or stripes. The white patterning can be so prolific that it covers the majority of the snake, though this is very rare. This species should not be confused with the Monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia), which has similar habitat, size and appearance.  Just like most species of the spitting cobras, its primary venom is a post-synaptic neurotoxin and cytotoxin ( causing death of tissues or necrotizing tissue).

Monocled Cobra

The cobra species of the  monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia), which is widespread across central and southern Asia. The monocled cobra has an O-shaped, or monocellate hood pattern, unlike that of the Indian cobra or Naja naja. Monocled cobras are distributed from India in the west to China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malay Peninsula, also native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand.

Aspidelaps is a venomous elapid genus snakes commonly found in Africa. They are commonly called shiled-nosed cobras or coral cobras after their enlarged rostral nose scales and cobra-hoods.  However, the hood is not nearly as well developed in Aspidelaps as it is in Naja.

12)  Coral Snakes

Micrurus fulvius is a venomous elapid snake found in the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico, some people confused with the scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea) or scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides), which are harmless mimics.

Texas Coral snake

Micrurus tener, commonly known as the Texas coral snake, is a venomous elapid snake, like the Texas coral snake venom is a powerful neurotoxin causing neuromuscular dysfunction. No deaths from coral snake bites have been reported in the United States since coral snake antivenom has been available to hospitals. The coral snake resembles other, nonvenomous snakes.

  Scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea)

Cemophora coccinea is a nonvenomous species of colubrid snake commonly known as the scarlet snake, and the only member of its genus. They are native to the southeastern United States. There are three subspecies of C. coccinea.

Scarlet Kingsnake (Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides)

Lampropeltis elapsoides, commonly known as the scarlet kingsnake, is a nonvenomous species of the Kingsnake commonly found in the southeastern and eastern portions of the United States. The Kingsnakes are commonly found in pine flatwoods, hardwood hammocks, prairies, cultivated fields, and suburban areas. Long thought to be divergent from other tri-color kingsnakes and milksnakes.

Milksnakes

Lampropeltis triangulum, commonly known as a milk snake or milksnake,  is a species of king snake, and there are 24 subspecies of milk snakes. 

13)  Rattlesnakes

Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the Crotalus genera and Sistrurus, and of the subfamily Crotalinae (“pit vipers”). There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies native to the Americas, that range from southern Alberta, southern British Columbia in Canada to Central Argentina. Rattlesnakes are predators who live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small animals such as birds and rodents, and kill their prey with a venomous bite, rather than by constricting their preys. All rattlesnakes possess a set of fangs with which they inject large quantities of hemotoxic venom. The venom travels through the bloodstream, destroying or necrotizing the tissues, taht causes to swell, internal bleeding and severe pain.  Some Mojave Rattlesnake species, possess a neurotoxic component in their venom that causes  paralysis and nervous symptoms.

West Coast Rattlesnake

Crotalus durissus

 

Pit Vipers

The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers, crotaline snakes, or pit adders, are a subfamily of venomous vipers native to Asia and the Americas. The pit vipers are distinguished by the presence of a heat-sensing pit organ located between the eye and the nostril on either side of the head, and nowadays there are 18 genera and 151 species being recognized, 7 genera and 54 species in the Old World, against the New World greater diversity of 11 genera and 97 species.These are also the only viperids found in the Americas, which these groups of snakes represented here include rattlesnakes, lance-heads and Asian pit vipers. The Crotalus is the subfamily for the genus type, of which the species type is the rattlesnake’s timber, C. horridus.

Asian Pit Vipers

Trimeresurus is a venomous pit vipers genus commonly found in Asia from Pakistan, India, China, throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.  There are 35 species known, and their common names are the, Asian pit vipers, Asian Lance-heads and Asian lanceheaded vipers. Most species are small, primarily arboreal species, with thin bodies and prehensile (grasping) tails. The common colors of these pit vipers are green in color, but some species also have yellow, black, orange or red markings.

Trimeresurus cornutus is a venomous pit viper species found in Vietnam, and their common names are Fan-Si-Pan horned pit viper. 

Trimeresurus elegans is a venomous pit viper species, native to southern Ryukyu Islands in Japan. Their common names are, elegant pit viper, Sakishima habu and elegant tree viper. 

Trimeresurus jerdonii is a venomous pit viper species, native in India (Assam), Burma, Tibet, China and Vietnam. Three subspecies are known nowadays according to studies, and their common names are, Jerdon’s pit viper. 

Lachesis Muta

Lachesis muta  (South American Bushmaster) is a venomous pit viper species native to South America, and currently, there are two subspecies recognized.

Crotalus willardi obscurus is a venomous pit viper subspecies native to the northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed as “threatened venomous snake”, and their common names are, Animas ridge-nosed rattlesnake, and the New Mexican ridge-nosed rattlesnake.

13)  Boa

Boa constrictor imperator is a nonvenomous boa subspecies native to Central America. There is one population found on the Cavos Cochinos or Hog Islands off Honduras north shore. These species of boas are naturally hypomelanistic , which means that they have reduced melanin, and are more lightly colored, although they retain the distinctive darker tail that is characteristic of most members of this species. The color of the tail may vary from salmon pink to orange. While the Boa constrictor, is larger and heavy bodied species of snake, and a member of Boidae family native in North, Central and South America and some islands in the Caribbean. Most of these subspecies are compared to Boa Constrictors, while the nominated subspecies is referred to as the red-tailed boa. It is also called “BCC” within the exotic pet trade, and abbreviation of boa’s scientific name, to differentiate it from other species and subspecies of Boa Constrictor to rad-tailed boa or common boas. Their common names are (Mayan) chij-chan, (Latin America) jiboia and (Trinidaddian) macajuel.

14) Anaconda

Eunectes murinus ,derived from the Greek Ευνήκτης meaning “good swimmer” and the Latin murinus, “of mice” for supposedly preying on mice, not for being “gray-mouse-colored. The Anaconda is a non-venomous boa species native to South America, and the most heaviest known of snake species. The name anaconda are often referred to species of the genus Eunectes. The Eunectes murinus, are the green anaconda, and the largest species, is found east of the Andes in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and on the island of Trinidad.

Giant Anaconda

Yellow Anaconda

Eunectes notaeus (common names: yellow anaconda, Paraguayan anaconda is a nonvenomous boa species native to South America. The Eunectes notaeus, is the yellow anaconda, a smaller species, is found in eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.

Eunectes deschauenseei is a nonvenomous boa species native to northeastern South America, and their common names are, dark-spotted anaconda, De Schauensee’s anaconda. The “dark-spotted anaconda” or Eunectes deschauenseei, is a rare and unique species native to Brazil and coastal French Guiana.

Python genus

Python, is a nonvenomous pythons genus native to Africa in the tropics Sahara south, but not in southern Africa, and southwestern of Madagascar. In Asia, it is commonly found in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, that includes theNicobar Islands to Myanmar, then east to Indochina, then southern China, Hong Kong and Hainan province and the Malayan region of Indonesia and the Philippines.

Python Sebae

Python regius

Python regius is a nonvenomous species of python commonly found in Africa. The Python regius species, are the smallest of the African pythons and famous for pet trades, largely due to its typically easy to teach or docile temperament. It is also known as royal python or ball python, because of it’s nature of curling into a ball form, when frightened or stressed. The name “royal python”, is from the Latin regius, and is based in the Cleopatra part on the story that she was “supposedly” wearing the snake around her wrist.

15)  Black Mamba

16)   Death Adders  (Acanthophis)

Acanthophis is an elapid snakes genus, commonly known as death adders, and these species are native to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands and known as most scary, dangerous and venomous snakes in the world. These name, death of adders of the genus, is derived from the Ancient Greek Death adders can inject average 40 to 100 mg of high toxic venom with a bite!

Austrelaps or Australian Copperheads Snake

Austrelaps is a venomous elapid genus snakes native to the Australian continent, which is relatively fertile, and temperate. There three species are currently recognized, with no subspecies. They are commonly called copperheads or Australian copperheads, despite sharing a name with the American copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix,  though they are not related.

Inland Taipan, most venomous snake

The Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) is a taipan species that belongs to the Elapidae family, also known as the Small Scaled Snake and Fierce Snake, is native to Australia and is regarded as the most venomous land snake in the world based on LD50 values in mice. Although highly venomous, it is very shy and reclusive, and prefers to escape from trouble, which the word fierce is an alternate name describes their venom, but not the taipan’s “temperament”. The high toxic venom of taipan inland snakes consists of Taipoxin and protease enzymes.

17) Tiger Snakes

Tiger snakes are a type of venomous snake commonly found in Australia’s southern region, and the Tasmania coastal islands. These snakes species varies in colors, often banded like those on a tiger, and forms in their regional occurrences. All populations are in the genus Notechis.

Telescopus semiannulatus (Tiger snake)

Telescopus semiannulatus, commonly known as the tiger snake, tiger cat snake, or striped cat snake is a colubrid snake species. Commonly found throughout central, eastern, and southern Africa, from Congo to Tanzania throughout South Africa.

18) Rat Snake

Rhinoceros Ratsnake (Rhynchophis boulengeri) also known as Rhinoceros Snake, Rhino Rat Snake, Vietnamese Longnose Snake,Green Unicorn, found commonly in Northern Vietnam to Southern China, has a prominent, distinctive, scaled protrusion on the front of its snout which has led to its common naming after mythical unicorns and some species of rhinoceros which feature a single horn on the front of their snouts. In Northern Vietnam to Tam Dao, Southern China 10 species are being observed and studied in Yen Bai Province, Northern Vietnam during a survey in 2001.

Corn Snakes

The corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus guttatus), or red rat snake, is a species native  North American rat snake species, that “quietly handle the situations under control its small prey by constriction”. The name “corn snake” is a holdover from the days when southern farmers stored harvested ears of corn in a wood frame or log building called a crib. Rats and mice came to the corn crib to feed on the corn, and corn snakes came to feed on the rodents.

19) Water Moccasin snake

Agkistrodon piscivorus is a pit viper family and a venomous snake commonly found in the southeastern USA, with their common names water moccasin, swamp moccasin or black moccasin, cottonmouth, gapper or just simply viper. The adult black moccasin snakes are large and capable of a painful and potentially fatal bite. When antagonized, they will stand their ground by coiling their bodies and displaying their fangs. This is the only semi-aquatic viper in the world, usually found in or near water, particularly in slow-moving and shallow lakes, streams, and marshes. The moccasin snakes is a good swimmer and can cross the sea and can colonize the islands off both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

20) Garter Snake

The Gartersnake is a Colubrid snake genus with scientific name of  Thamnophis, which is common across North America, that range from Alaska and Canada to Central America, which the single distributed widely in North America. The garter snake is also popularly known as the Massachusetts state reptile. The Garter snakes were long thought to be nonvenomous, but in the recent research and studies, that the garter snakes have produced mild neurotoxic substances. Garter snakes cannot kill humans with the small amounts of venom they produce, which is comparatively mild, and they also lack an effective means of “contaminating” their venom.