Portal:Snakes/DYK

DYKs

¹

A plains gartersnake

... that the Plains Garter Snake (pictured) is one of the most cold-tolerant snakes and often emerges from hibernation to bask on sunny winter days?
... that apart from eating smaller lizards and amphibians, the Central American coral snake also feeds on other snakes?
... that Dwyer's Snake is only weakly venomous and coils into a ball when threatened?
... that the Bahamian Pygmy Boa Constrictor can voluntarily bleed from its eyes, mouth and nostrils?
... that the East Bay Vivarium is the oldest and largest retail vivarium in the United States?

²

... that Wilmer Tanner (pictured with a tiger trophy), born 1909, described at least fifteen new species or genera?
...that the Olive python, Australia's second largest snake, can eat prey as large as a wallaby?
... that one of the few cases of poisoning by the Montpellier snake occurred when someone stuck his finger into the snake's mouth?
... that twenty-six U.S. states have an official reptile?
... that the American minister George Went Hensley taught that Christians should eschew baseball and embrace venomous snakes?

³

...that the Scarlet King Snake can be distinguished from the Coral Snake by the mnemonic "red and yellow, kill a fellow" and "red and black venom lack"?
... that venom is thought to have had a single origin in the evolutionary history of snakes?
... that in local New Guinea folklore, the magic-man sends the Papuan black snake to kill enemies?
... that the limestone quarries near Ein Yabrud in the Judean Mountains have produced the only fossils for the extinct snakes Pachyrhachis and Haasiophis?
...that the San Francisco garter snake is an endangered species capable of digesting toxic newts but is not found in San Francisco?

⁴

... that the Balkan whip snake hibernates in winter, with several snakes sometimes sharing a single site?
... that the Late Cretaceous madtsoiid snake Sanajeh preyed on hatchling sauropod dinosaurs at nesting sites in India?
...that although the green anaconda is the modern world's largest snake at up to 9 m (30 ft) long and 227 kg (500 lb), the extinct Titanoboa could be up to 12.8 m (42 ft) long and 1,135 kg (2,500 lb; 1.1 long tons)?
... that the snake Philodryas baroni emits a foul-smelling substance from the cloaca when frightened?
... that the recently discovered smallest snake in the world, Leptotyphlops carlae (pictured), is thought to be near the evolutionary limit of how small any snake could be?

⁵

...that the saliva of a common garter snake may be toxic to amphibians and other small animals?
... that the rough-scaled sea snake is highly venomous and every scale on its body is adorned with a spine?
... that the Late Cretaceous madtsoiid snake Menarana had several adaptations for head-first burrowing, but its large size may have made burrowing difficult or impossible?
... that mole snakes can inflict serious bite wounds, but nonetheless are said to make good pets?
...that pit vipers and some boas and pythons have specialized facial pits for sensing infrared radiation?

⁶

... that the East Asian banded red snake can harbour tapeworms and eating its raw meat may lead to parasitic infections?
... that Colombia is home to almost 300 different species of snake?
... that the Mexican kingsnake is sometimes killed because it is misidentified as a venomous coral snake?
...that Crotalus tigris has the highest toxicity of venoms among rattlesnakes, even though it has a low venom yield?
... that Morelia spilota spilota, the Diamond python, of East Gippsland live at the highest altitude of any python?

⁷

... that the Honduran milk snake's color resemblance to the coral snake, known as Batesian mimicry, helps protect it from potential predators?
...that the range of Nelson's Milksnake (Albino specimen pictured) from Mexico is linked to watercourses, and that it was thought to be the same subspecies as the more common Sinaloan Milksnake until 1978?
... that forest cobras (pictured) can grow up to 2.7 metres (8.9 feet) and kill in 20 minutes?
... that Dubois' seasnake is one of at least seventeen sea snake species living in the Coral Sea, and has the world's most toxic sea snake venom?
... that Lycodon chrysoprateros, a snake species endemic to the Philippines, is considered critically endangered because its range is only 52 square kilometres (20 sq mi)?

⁸

... that the speed of the red whip snake enables it to feed largely on lizards?
... that the bite of the colourful Collett's snake can lead to rhabdomyolysis and kidney failure?
... that biologist Robert C. Stebbins published research on the sidewinder rattlesnake?
... that in 2007, three specimens of the Caspian whipsnake were found in Galați County, the first in Moldavia (eastern Romania) since 1937?
... that the Discovery Channel special Eaten Alive did not actually feature anyone being eaten alive?

⁹

... that the red-naped snake is a small, venomous snake and is listed as threatened in Victoria?
... that the diporus subspecies of the Bothrops neuwiedi pitviper is one of the main causes of snakebite injury in Argentina?
... that Tom Crutchfield was instrumental in producing the first captive-bred albino Burmese pythons?