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Scientific classification

The snakes or serpents are legless reptile, some of which have a venomous bite which they use to kill their prey before eating it. Other snakes kill their prey by constriction[?], for example strangulation.

Snakes are 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.


All snakes are carnivorous, eating small animals, birds or insects. Snakes do not chew their food. Many snakes have an ability to unhinge the joints in their jaws thus allowing them to open their mouths wide enough to swallow their prey whole, even if it is larger in diameter than the snake itself. After eating, snakes become torpid while the process of digestion takes place.

The skin is covered in scales. Most snakes use their scales to move, gripping surfaces. They shed their skin periodically. Detailed vision is limited, but does not prevent detection of movement. A subgroup of snakes called the pit vipers have infrared sensitve receptors in deep grooves between the nostril and eye which allow them to 'see' the heat radiated by animals. Hearing is restricted to the sensing of ground vibrations. A snake smells through its nose, and the tongue passes airborne particles to special organs in the mouth for examination. The left lung is very small or even absent.

One of the constellations of the sky, Serpens, represents a snake, being tamed by the snake-handler Ophiuchus.

List of some species





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