Snakes are truly magnificent animals and make excellent pets for people with a more exotic taste. In addition to being a creature with great participation in world mythology, they are also beings well studied by biologists and every now and then they gain prominence on the big screen — aka the importance of this reptile in the Harry Potter saga.
However, no it is only in fiction that these creepy crawlies show impressive features. In real life, snakes are just as curious as they are in the fantasy world and can do some very intriguing things. Curious to know more? See just six extraordinary things snakes are capable of!
Also read: Two-headed snake: how does this phenomenon of nature happen?
1. Using solar energy
(Source: Pixabay)
Reptiles are normally labeled biologically as “cold-blooded” creatures. However, this is not necessarily the most correct term to use, since the blood of these creatures is not really cold. In this sense, the correct term is ectodermal, used for when body temperature is variable and regulated by external sources.
Unlike mammals and birds, which are capable of internally regulating their body temperature, reptiles need sources of heat, such as the sun, to keep warm. Therefore, we can say that snakes are basically animals sustained by solar energy.
2. Smell with the tongue
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When we talk about smell, you would hardly associate this sense with language — mainly because the nose is what performs this function in humans. Snakes, however, even have nostrils, but they don’t use them in the same way we do. Instead, these animals evolved to be able to smell the world around them using their tongues.
Another helpful tool is the Jacobson’s organ, an auxiliary olfactory organ located on the roof of the mouth of some species. . The forked tongue of snakes has multiple receptors capable of capturing different amounts of chemical signals in nature and translating this information into a certain smell.
3. Play without sex
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Some boa constrictors do not need males in their lives to reproduce, all thanks to a system called parthenogenesis. This is a form of asexual reproduction that involves the development of an egg into an embryo without fertilization, necessarily generating new female individuals with the same color mutation.
The composition of sex chromosomes is also different. different in these individuals compared to sexually produced snakes, since parthenogenesis is basically a kind of “cloning”.
4. Stealing Poison
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The non-venomous Asian snake species Rhabdophis tigrinus has an interesting feature in its organism: all individuals of this species are capable of becoming poisonous due to diet. And how does it work? It is enough to eat some certain species of toxic frogs.
Then, all the toxin absorbed during the digestion of frogs is stored in the glands of the neck of these reptiles. These snakes can even pass these toxins on to their young at birth and even use the venom to protect themselves from predators or to hunt on their own.
5. Precise aim
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There are several species of venom-spitting snakes around the world, which need to be assertive to blind their potential adversaries. In order for their aim to reach perfection, however, these animals track the enemy’s movements and aim the “shot” at the place where they expect the rival’s eyes to be at a future time.
Na In most cases, a snake of this type can precisely hit opponents that are at most 60 cm away 100% of the time.
6. Fighting to the end
(Source: Pixabay)
Even if a snake has its head decapitated — ripped off by of her body—she remains lethal for a few more moments. And how does it work? Contrary to what happens with Medusa in Greek mythology, it is not that new heads grow in place.
However, a decapitated snake can continue to bite after hours and hours after it has been killed. This type of bite usually carries large amounts of venom and can be quite lethal if not treated urgently.
