Study this information for the test

1. Order: SquamataOrder: Squamata
Suborder: SerpentesSuborder: Serpentes
SNAKESSNAKES

2. Pit vipers are
snakes that
include
copperheads,
rattlesnakes,
water
moccasins, and
the fer de lance
(a Central
American
Species we’ll
discuss later).

3. Pit vipers are
snakes that
include
copperheads,
rattlesnakes,
water
moccasins, and
the fer de lance
(a Central
American
Species we’ll
discuss later).
All of Ohio’s venomous snakes are pit vipers.

6. Loreal Pit

7. Loreal Pit
Loreal pits are
situated between the
eye and nostril.

8. Loreal Pit
Loreal pits are
situated between the
eye and nostril.
The loreal pits detect
heat given off by the
snake’s prey and
provide pit vipers with
a sense that other
snakes lack.

10. Snakes are able to smell their surroundings.

11. Snakes are able to smell their surroundings.
Their tongue collects airborne molecules. The tongue
is slid grooves in the roof of their mouth..

12. l
A gland called
the Jacobson’s
Organ or
Vomeronasal
Organ is located
above the
grooves in the
roof of the
snake’s mouth.
The Jacobson’s Organ has olfactory nerves (smell) that go
directly to the brain.

13. Monitor lizards,
which include the
Komodo Dragon,
are snakes’
ancestors. They
too, have a forked
tongue and a
Jacobson’s Organ.

14. The three bones that make up your inner ear
are at the end of your jaw when you’re an
embryo.

15. The three bones that make up your inner ear
are at the end of your jaw when you’re an
embryo. As you develop, they become your
inner ear bones.

16. The three bones that make up your inner ear
are at the end of your jaw when you’re an
embryo. As you develop, they become your
inner ear bones.
As snakes develop, those three bones remain
at the end of the jaw.

17. Snakes can’t hear airborne sounds but
vibrations on the ground cause those bones to
rattle. They can feel the vibrations.

18. Many pit vipers hunt by resting their head on a log.
If a chipmunk or mouse runs on the log the snake
can……
1. see the prey moving.

19. Many pit vipers hunt by resting their head on a log.
If a chipmunk or mouse runs on the log the snake
can……
1. see the prey moving.
2. smell the prey with its tongue and Jacobson’s
organ.

20. Many pit vipers hunt by resting their head on a log.
If a chipmunk or mouse runs on the log the snake
can……
1. see the prey moving.
2. smell the prey with its tongue and Jacobson’s
organ.
3. sense the heat from the prey with its loreal pits.

21. Many pit vipers hunt by resting their head on a log.
If a chipmunk or mouse runs on the log the snake
can……
1. see the prey moving.
2. smell the prey with its tongue and Jacobson’s
organ.
3. sense the heat from the prey with its loreal pits.
4.feel the vibrations created by the running rodent
with their jaws.

22. Heat sensing pits are present along the lips of
some pythons.

23. Heat sensing pits are present along the lips of
some pythons.
These are called labial pits.

24. Snakes are generally not sexually dimorphic.

25. Snakes are generally not sexually dimorphic.
Males and females look alike.

26. Snakes are generally not sexually dimorphic.
Males and females look alike.
All sex organs are internal so they can’t be seen.

27. Snakes are generally not sexually dimorphic.
Males and females look alike.
All sex organs are internal so they can’t be seen.
With some experience it is possible to see where the
male’s hemipenes are but not with 100% accuracy.

28. Snakes are generally not sexually dimorphic.
Males and females look alike.
All sex organs are internal so they can’t be seen.
With some experience it is possible to see where the
male’s hemipenes are but not with 100% accuracy.
A male snake’s tail is broader than a females because
his hemipenes are tucked inside it.

29. Snakes are generally not sexually dimorphic.
Males and females look alike.
All sex organs are internal so they can’t be seen.
With some experience it is possible to see where the
male’s hemipenes are but not with 100% accuracy.
A male snake’s tail is broader than a females because
his hemipenes are tucked inside it.
Females’ tails pinch in just behind the cloaca.

30. Snakes are generally not sexually dimorphic.
Males and females look alike.
All sex organs are internal so they can’t be seen.
With some experience it is possible to see where the
male’s hemipenes are but not with 100% accuracy.
A male snake’s tail is broader than a females because
his hemipenes are tucked inside it.
Females’ tails pinch in just behind the cloaca.
Males’ tails taper behind the cloaca.

31. Herpetologists use tools called probes to
determine the sex of a snake.

32. This is not a snake. It is a lizard.

33. How do you tell a legless lizard

34. How do you tell a legless lizard from a snake?

35. How do you tell a legless lizard from a snake?
Lizards have ear
openings and eyelids.

36. How do you tell a legless lizard from a snake?
Lizards have ear
openings and eyelids.
Snakes have no
eyelids or external ear
openings.

37. Snakes come in a wide range of sizes.

38. Snakes come in a wide range of sizes.
Blind snakes are among
the smallest. Adults only
attain lengths of about
eight inches.

39. The largest snakes ever recorded were 32 feet long. The
Green Anaconda, pictured below, and the Reticulate
Python tie for the largest snake. This Anaconda is only
about 23 feet long.

40. Ironically, the smallest snakes, blind snakes are the
closest relatives of the family Boidae, which includes
pythons and boas, the largest snakes.

41. Ironically, the smallest snakes, blind snakes are the
closest relatives of the family Boidae, which includes
pythons and boas, the largest snakes.
All of these snakes are among the most primitive
species.

42. When you have no hands or limbs, catching prey
requires special skills and tools.

43. When you have no hands or limbs, catching prey
requires special skills and tools.
Many snakes grab their
prey with their teeth then
wrap coils of their body
around it. As they tighten
their grip they eventually
suffocate the animal.

44. When you have no hands or limbs, catching prey
requires special skills and tools.
Many snakes grab their
prey with their teeth then
wrap coils of their body
around it. As they tighten
their grip they eventually
suffocate the animal.
This strategy is called
constriction and the
snakes that use it are called
constrictors.

45. The more advanced snakes have evolved proteins in their
saliva that paralyze or kill their prey when it is injected as
venom.

46. The more advanced snakes have evolved proteins in their
saliva that paralyze or kill their prey when it is injected as
venom.
The salivary glands
of venomous snakes
are connected by a
venom duct to
enlarged hollow teeth
called fangs.

47. The more advanced snakes have evolved proteins in their
saliva that paralyze or kill their prey when it is injected as
venom.
The salivary glands
of venomous snakes
are connected by a
venom duct to
enlarged hollow teeth
called fangs.
Venom is injected
through tiny openings
toward the tip of the
fang.

48. The venom duct
extends right to the tip
of the fang.

49. The venom duct
extends right to the tip
of the fang.
The photographs to
the right show the
openings in the fangs.

50. Venom can be seen dripping from
this rattlesnake’s fangs.

51. Rattlesnake venom
is hemotoxic. It
attacks the blood
and blood vessels.

52. Rattlesnake venom
is hemotoxic. It
attacks the blood
and blood vessels.
Other hemotoxic
snakes….

53. Rattlesnake venom
is hemotoxic. It
attacks the blood
and blood vessels.
Other hemotoxic
snakes….
Copperheads

54. Rattlesnake venom
is hemotoxic. It
attacks the blood
and blood vessels.
Other hemotoxic
snakes….
Copperheads
Water moccasins

55. Rattlesnake venom
is hemotoxic. It
attacks the blood
and blood vessels.
Other hemotoxic
snakes….
Copperheads
Water moccasins
Fer de Lance

56. Rattlesnake venom
is hemotoxic. It
attacks the blood
and blood vessels.
Other hemotoxic
snakes….
Copperheads
Water moccasins
Fer de Lance
Massasauga

57. Mambas are extremely
toxic snakes from Africa.

58. Mambas are extremely
toxic snakes from Africa.
Their fangs are small but
inject neurotoxic venom.

59. Mambas are extremely
toxic snakes from Africa.
Their fangs are small but
inject neurotoxic venom.
Other neurotoxic snakes…

60. Mambas are extremely
toxic snakes from Africa.
Their fangs are small but
inject neurotoxic venom.
Other neurotoxic snakes…
Cobras

61. Mambas are extremely
toxic snakes from Africa.
Their fangs are small but
inject neurotoxic venom.
Other neurotoxic snakes…
Cobras
Coral snakes

62. Mambas are extremely
toxic snakes from Africa.
Their fangs are small but
inject neurotoxic venom.
Other neurotoxic snakes…
Cobras
Coral snakes
Saw-scaled vipers

63. Mambas are extremely
toxic snakes from Africa.
Their fangs are small but
inject neurotoxic venom.
Other neurotoxic snakes…
Cobras
Coral snakes
Saw-scaled vipers
Kraits

64. Neurotoxins affect the nervous system, usually
causing paralysis of the heart or diaphragm
resulting in suffocation of the prey.

65. To help them hold their
prey, snakes’ teeth
curve towards the back
of the mouth.

66. To help them hold their
prey, snakes’ teeth
curve towards the back
of the mouth.
This python got its teeth
hung on the wires of a
fence.

67. To help them hold their
prey, snakes’ teeth
curve towards the back
of the mouth.
This python got its teeth
hung on the wires of a
fence.
Also note that the
mandibles do not fuse to
form a chin (mandibular
symphysis).