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Elapid Venoms
Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus ''Emydocephalus''. Many members of this family exhibit a threat display of rearing upwards while spreading out a neck flap. Elapids are endemic to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, with terrestrial forms in Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Americas and marine forms in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Members of the family have a wide range of sizes, from the white-lipped snake to the king cobra. Most species have neurotoxic venom that is channeled by their hollow fangs, and some may contain other toxic components in varying proportions. The family includes 55 genera with around 360 species and over 170 subspecies. Description Terrestrial elapids look similar to the Colubridae; almost all have long, slender bodies with smooth scales, a head ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Cobra
The king cobra (''Ophiophagus hannah'') is a species complex of snakes Endemism, endemic to Asia. With an average of and a record length of , it is the world's longest venomous snake and among the heaviest. Under the genus ''Ophiophagus'', it is not phylogenetics, phylogenetically a Naja, true cobra despite its common name and some resemblance. Spanning from the Indian Subcontinent through Southeastern Asia to Southern China, the king cobra is widely distributed albeit not commonly seen. Individuals have Polymorphism (biology), diversified colouration across its habitats, from black with white strips to unbroken brownish grey, although after taxonomic re-evaluation, it is no longer the monotypic, sole member of its genus but is now a species complex; these differences in pattern and other aspects may cause the genus to be split into at least four species, spread across its large Species distribution, geographic range. It chiefly Ophiophagy, hunts other snakes, including Can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mamba
Mambas are fast-moving, highly venomous snakes of the genus ''Dendroaspis'' (which literally means "tree asp") in the family Elapidae. Four extant species are recognised currently; three of those four species are essentially arboreal and green in colour, whereas the black mamba, ''Dendroaspis polylepis'', is largely terrestrial and generally brown or grey in colour. All are native to various regions in sub-Saharan Africa and all are feared throughout their ranges, especially the black mamba. In Africa there are many legends and stories about mambas. also at/ref> Behaviour The three green species of mambas are arboreal, whereas the black mamba is largely terrestrial. All four species are active diurnal hunters, preying on birds, lizards, and small mammals. At nightfall some species, especially the terrestrial black mamba, shelter in a lair. A mamba may retain the same lair for years. Resembling a cobra, the threat display of a mamba includes rearing, opening the mouth an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subtropics
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° to 40° north and south. The horse latitudes lie within this range. Subtropical climates are often characterized by hot summers and mild winters with infrequent frost. Most subtropical climates fall into two basic types: humid subtropical (Köppen climate classification: Cfa/Cwa), where rainfall is often concentrated in the warmest months, for example Southeast China and the Southeastern United States, and dry summer or Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa/Csb), where seasonal rainfall is concentrated in the cooler months, such as the Mediterranean Basin or Southern California. Subtropical climates can also occur at high elevations within the tropics, such as in the southern end of the Mexican Plateau an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's axial tilt; the width of the tropics (in latitude) is twice the tilt. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see geographical zone). Due to the overhead sun, the tropics receive the most solar energy over the course of the year, and consequently have the highest temperatures on the planet. Even when not directly overhead, the sun is still close to overhead throughout the year, therefore the tropics also have the lowest seasonal variation on the planet; "winter" and "summer" lose their temperature contrast. Instead, seasons are more commonly divided by precipitation variations than by temperature variations. The tropics maintain wide diversity of local climates, such as rain forests, monsoons, sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Threat Display
Deimatic behaviour or startle display means any pattern of bluffing behaviour in an animal that lacks strong defences, such as suddenly displaying conspicuous eyespots, to scare off or momentarily distract a predator, thus giving the prey animal an opportunity to escape. The term deimatic or dymantic originates from the Greek δειματόω (deimatóo), meaning "to frighten". Deimatic display occurs in widely separated groups of animals, including moths, butterflies, mantises and phasmids among the insects. In the cephalopods, different species of octopuses, squids, cuttlefish and the paper nautilus are deimatic. Displays are classified as deimatic or aposematic by the responses of the animals that see them. Where predators are initially startled but learn to eat the displaying prey, the display is classed as deimatic, and the prey is bluffing; where they continue to avoid the prey after tasting it, the display is taken as aposematic, meaning the prey is genuinely distast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emydocephalus
''Emydocephalus'' is a genus of sea snakes, also known as turtle-headed sea snakes, in the family Elapidae. The genus is one of a small group of the viviparous sea snakes (Hydrophiinae: Hydrophiini) with ''Aipysurus''. Unlike most sea snakes, the species that make up ''Emydocephalus'' lack teeth on their dentary and palatine bones. They also lack venom, making them the only non-venomous elapids. The dentary and palantine bones bear only a row of papillae. ''Emydocephalus'' does, however, bear fangs and many small pterygoid teeth. This reduced dentition is due to their diet consisting almost entirely of fish eggs. Due to their prey being small and immobile, they exhibit a foraging strategy different than most snakes, where they forage more frequently but consume smaller quantities. Etymology The generic name, ''Emydocephalus'', is from the Greek words ὲμύς (emys) meaning "turtle", and κεφαλή (kephale) meaning "head". Geographic range Species of the genus ''Emydocepha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a stinger, in a process called '' envenomation''. Venom is often distinguished from ''poison'', which is a toxin that is passively delivered by being ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, and '' toxungen'', which is actively transferred to the external surface of another animal via a physical delivery mechanism. Venom has evolved in terrestrial and marine environments and in a wide variety of animals: both predators and prey, and both vertebrates and invertebrates. Venoms kill through the action of at least four major classes of toxin, namely necrotoxins and cytotoxins, which kill cells; neurotoxins, which affect nervous systems; myotoxins, which damage muscles; and haemotoxins, which disrupt blood clotting. Venomous animals caus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors and relatives, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads ( cranial kinesis). 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 only have one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, althoug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family (, : ) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". The delineation of what constitutes a family—or whether a described family should be acknowledged—is established and decided upon by active taxonomists. There are not strict regulations for outlining or acknowledging a family, yet in the realm of plants, these classifications often rely on both the vegetative and reproductive characteristics of plant species. Taxonomists frequently hold varying perspectives on these descriptions, leading to a lack of widespread consensus within the scientific community ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrophiinae
Hydrophiinae is a subfamily of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. It contains most sea snakes and many genera of venomous land snakes found in Australasia, such as the taipans (''Oxyuranus''), tiger snakes (''Notechis''), brown snakes (''Pseudonaja'') and death adders (''Acanthophis''). Taxonomy Phylogeny and classification Historically, subfamily Hydrophiinae included all " sea snakes" and was commonly used to refer to both the true sea snakes (tribe Hydrophiini) and the sea kraits ('' Laticauda''). However, large-scale molecular phylogenetic analyses and studies integrating phenotypic data (including morphological, ecological, and cytogenetic characteristics) with molecular data support the hypothesis that '' Laticauda'' is the sister group to all other hydrophiines. This clade containing all hydrophiines except '' Laticauda'' is sometimes referred to as Oxyuraninae. Given its basal position, ''Laticauda'' is sometimes placed in a separate subfamily, Laticau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naja
''Naja'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes commonly known as cobras (or "true cobras"). Various species occur throughout Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Several other elapid species are often called "cobras", such as the king cobra and the rinkhals, but they are not "true cobras", in that they do not belong to the genus ''Naja''. Until recently, the genus ''Naja'' had 20 to 22 species, but it has undergone several Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic revisions in recent years, so sources vary greatly. Wide support exists, though, for a 2009 revision that synonymised the genera ''Boulengerina'' and ''Paranaja multifasciata, Paranaja'' with ''Naja''. According to that revision, the genus ''Naja'' now includes 38 species. Etymology The origin of the Genus, generic name, ''Naja'', is from the Sanskrit ''nāga'' (with a hard "g") meaning "snake". Some hold that the Sanskrit word is Cognate (etymology), cognate with English "snake", Germanic: ''*snēk-a-'', Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
