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The world's largest snake
Reticulated python. 12.2 m.
Probably the longest snake in the world. The largest individuals of the nominate subspecies can reach a length of 10 m or more. However, individuals with a length of 4-8 m are more common. A record specimen of a reticulated python that lived in one of the zoos, according to unconfirmed data, reached a length of 12.2 m

The smallest snake in the world.
Barbados narrowmouth snake.
To date, the largest specimen of this species barely reaches 10.4 cm. These snakes feed exclusively on termites and ant larvae. They live only one season - from spring to autumn. One female snake usually lays one large egg, from which offspring emerge the following spring. Interestingly, the newborn snake reaches almost half the length of the mother, in contrast to large snakes, in which the size of the children is approximately one tenth of the body length of the parents. The size of the baby Barbados narrowmouth snake is determined by the boundary conditions of survival.

The most poisonous snake.
Tasmanian tiger snake.
There may be a lot of controversy here, but in terms of the level of aggressiveness, toxicity of the poison and the speed of death, the tiger snake is the leader among venomous snakes. Lives on the island of Tasmania.

The most aggressive snake.
Yellow-bellied snake.
Pretty yellow-bellied snake large snake, it reaches two meters in length, and is considered the most aggressive not only in Europe, but throughout the world. When meeting a person, she does not even try to hide, but on the contrary, she rushes to attack. Quite large specimens can jump up to 1 meter, while taking a threatening pose, and throw a loud hiss right into the face of the enemy. One good thing is that it is not poisonous!

The most common snake.
Common viper.
And here is a snake that probably everyone has had the chance to meet. And it is also in our top as the most common on the planet!

The largest poisonous snake.
King cobra.
It lives in India and Indochina. The length of these reptiles can reach up to 5.5 meters. They very often live close to humans, the reason for which is the deforestation of tropical forests. Cobra, oddly enough, feeds on other types of snakes. There are times when she can attack them when they are already hunting prey.

The smallest poisonous snake.
Puff adder.
It lives on the coast of Namibia in the sand dunes. Its length is on average 20-23 cm. It has a very unusual way When hunting, the snake buries itself in the sand, with only its eyes and the tip of its tail sticking out, which serves as bait. These reptiles obtain the necessary moisture from their victims. They also lick condensation off themselves, which allows them to survive in such harsh conditions without water

The thinnest snake.
Ordinary belt-shaped.
Its length is 2 meters, while its thickness is 1-2 cm. The snake looks quite unusual - the head is much larger than the body. They live exclusively in trees and feed on snails and slugs. Their hunting weapons - sharpened fangs - are safe for humans.

The fastest snake.
Black mamba. It is almost impossible to escape from this snake; its speed is on average 11 kilometers per hour, and on flat terrain, with short throws, the speed can reach 16-19 km/h.

The most poisonous sea snake.
Belcher's sea snake. With one bite, the poison released can cause death in 250 thousand mice.

The world of snakes is wide and varied. Among them there are many who are capable of striking with their unique abilities. Some snakes are able to move with amazing speed, others amaze with their colossal strength, and a third even know how to spit with extraordinary accuracy.

These reptiles live almost everywhere and their relatives can be found on every continent except Antarctica. However, on some large islands, such as New Zealand and for some reason there are none in Ireland, just as there are none on many small Pacific islands.

This very heterogeneous tribe already numbers 3,460 different species, and among them there are many that will surprise even the most experienced reader.

In this article we will look at various records set by these mysterious ancient reptiles.

The world of snakes amazes with its diversity: some move with incredible speed, others are surprisingly strong, and still others spray venom directly into the eyes of the enemy.

Longest snake

The longest snake in the world is the anaconda. This anaconda boa constrictor living on the territory of the South American continent is one of the longest terrestrial vertebrates that has survived to this day.

The greatest length was achieved by an anaconda caught in Colombia. Careful measurements showed that its length was a full eleven meters and forty-three centimeters.

These snakes live in the impenetrable Amazon jungle and most often their habitat is the swampy banks along this mighty river. These giants feed on animals living on the banks of the Amazon. These are mainly various birds, agouti and nutria. Another giant reptile is the reticulated python. The largest representative of this species now lives in one of the Japanese zoos. The length of this overgrown muscular cord is twelve meters and twenty centimeters, and its weight is two hundred kilograms.

True, living in natural environment Pythons of this species have a length from one to six meters. And they weigh from one kilogram to seventy-five. Moreover, pythons living on the mainland are much larger than their island relatives. Reticulated pythons got their name from the complex pattern with a rainbow tint that covers this reptile.

Longest venomous snake

The longest venomous snake is the king cobra, which lives in southern China, Pakistan, Indochina, India, the Philippines and the Mallaka Peninsula. The length of this snake can reach up to five and a half meters. This poisonous creature poses a great danger to most animals, including humans. The venom of the king cobra is so strong that a person dies from such a bite in just a few minutes.

It must be said that this cobra has a fairly long life expectancy by the standards of the animal world, which can reach up to thirty years. Moreover, this snake continues to grow throughout its life. As a rule, king cobras hide in burrows and caves, but they can also crawl into trees. In most cases, they live in a specific area, but sometimes they move over very long distances (up to several tens of kilometers).

King cobras feed mainly on snakes of other species, including poisonous ones. Because of this (and also because of their increased aggressiveness), they are almost never kept in zoos in particular and in captivity in general. It is almost never possible to switch a king cobra to feeding on rats. In nature, king cobras sometimes even eat small monitor lizards. It can live up to three months without food.

The smallest snake

The smallest snake living on earth is the blind snake, which lives on the island of Nosy Be. This island is located near the island of Madagascar. The length of this tiny snake is only ten centimeters. They lead a burrowing lifestyle and are very rarely encountered on the soil surface. Interestingly, these tiny snakes have managed to form a rather interesting symbiosis with owls.

These birds catch blind snakes and bring them to burrows, in which they raise their chicks. The owls are unable to cope with the shell of the blind snake, and they abandon them. Then the reptile begins to hunt insects that swarm in the burrows. Scientific research shows that it is in such burrows that the healthiest owl chicks grow up.

The snake with the best thermoregulation

The snake with the most developed thermoregulatory qualities is the hieroglyphic python. This snake is distributed throughout the African continent. As you know, snakes are cold-blooded animals, and their body temperature is practically no different from the ambient temperature. However, when the female hieroglyphic python lays eggs, or rather immediately after, she, laying in a spiral, wraps herself around them and warms her offspring with the warmth of her body. Moreover, the body temperature of the mother snake at this time exceeds the ambient temperature by as much as seven degrees, which is a lot for a cold-blooded snake.

The most poisonous land snake

The most poisonous snake among those that live on the surface of land is the taipan. Moreover, this is indicated not only by laboratory studies, during which a thorough analysis of the venom of various snakes was carried out, but also by bleak statistics. According to it, from fifty to eighty percent of people who are bitten by these snakes die if medical attention is not provided to them in time. as soon as possible.

The most poisonous Russian snake

There are two most poisonous snakes in Russia. These two competitors are cobra and viper. Previously, from the bites of these snakes, twenty to thirty percent of all those bitten died. Currently, thanks to the developments of pharmacists who have created quite effective anti-snake serums, the mortality rate among victims of bites has noticeably decreased and now it does not exceed one or two percent.

The world's fastest venomous snake

The fastest venomous snake in the world is the mamba. These venomous arboreal snakes live in sub-Saharan Africa and prefer to choose piles of stones or abandoned burrows of other animals for their habitat. Their characteristic feature is that they do not limit themselves to one bite and tend to carry out a series of repeated bites, thereby increasing the concentration of venom in the victim’s body.

If a person who is bitten by a mamba does not take the antidote as soon as possible, he will most likely die. Moreover, the least chance of survival is if the bite hits a vein. Then there are only a few minutes left to take the antidote. And if it was not at hand, then... Now add to this the highest speed qualities of the mamba and it will become clear to everyone what powerful killers snakes of this species are.

Scientists have recorded that moving on the ground, the mamba is capable of reaching speeds of over eleven kilometers per hour. As for such a species as the black mamba, in short stretches and on flat terrain, it is capable of reaching speeds of up to twenty kilometers per hour, which is an absolute snake record! But this is on the ground, and among the branches it is even more swift. It is almost impossible for a person, especially in tree thickets, to escape from a mamba. At the same time, these snakes are distinguished by their aggressive nature and often attack first.

Surprisingly, in Africa they live not only in fields and forests, but even in populated areas and houses where mamba are most likely attracted by rodents. The venom of this snake is one of the most powerful, which, combined with the qualities described above, made the mamba the most feared snake on the African continent.

The heaviest snake in the world

Such a heavyweight was a tiger python named Baby. This giant was weighed on November 20, 1998, and the scales showed a weight of 182.5 kilograms. This twenty-five-year-old female was 8.22 meters long and 71.1 centimeters thick.

The heaviest among poisonous snakes

Apparently, the heaviest venomous snake is the diamondback rattlesnake, which lives in the southeastern United States. On average, these snakes have a length from one and a half meters to one hundred and eighty centimeters, and weigh 5.5-6.8 kilograms. The heaviest recorded diamondback rattlesnake weighed 15 kilograms and had a length of 2.36 meters.

Oldest snake

The oldest snake is common boa constrictor named Popeye, who died at the Philadelphia Zoo on April 15, 1977. Popeye lived forty years, three months and fourteen days.

The thinnest snake in Europe

The thinnest European snake is the olive snake. This snake lives mainly on the territory of the Balkan Peninsula. It belongs to the family of colubrids and is therefore not poisonous.

Australia's largest snake

The largest snake on the Australian continent is the amethyst python, which is about eight and a half meters long.

The most common of snakes

The common viper has the largest range among all other snakes living on land. This snake is common in the Eastern and Central Asia, as well as in Central, Western and Northern Europe(including the Scandinavian Peninsula and the British Isles).

The thinnest snake

The thinnest snake in the world is the common belted snake. Its thickness is simply amazing: with a body length of about two meters, its thickness is approximately equal to the thickness of a pencil.

Longest snake fast ever

A case in which a snake went longer than ever without food once occurred in a zoo. Then the adult anaconda refused food for five hundred days. And during a special experiment, the habu viper snake was able to live without food for three years and three months. At the same time, the experimental reptile lost 60.9 percent own weight. At the moment, this is the longest hunger strike not only among snakes, but among all vertebrates.

Longest snake ever refuses water

Snakes generally tend to go without water for a long time. For example, in one of the experiments that was carried out on the king cobra, this naturally extremely moisture-loving snake was able to live without water for five whole years.

The most populated place with poisonous snakes

Nine of the ten most poisonous snakes in the world live in Australia! Among them, the most poisonous land taipan, the eastern brown snake, common taipan and tiger snake. The last three snakes occupy the second, third and fourth lines of the venomous rating.

Animal with the most vertebrae

Currently, snakes have the largest number of vertebrae. According to scientists, the record set has not yet been surpassed giant snake Archaeophis proavus – 565 vertebrae!

The most sensitive snakes to temperature measurements

Humanity has been improving its instruments for measuring temperature for about four centuries, but compared to some living thermometers, they look primitive. The rattlesnake has thermoreceptors with which it can detect temperature changes of 1/300 degrees Celsius. Boas can detect temperature changes of a fraction of a degree in 35 milliseconds.

The most accurate snake

When attacking prey, ringals that live in South Africa and India. From a five-meter distance, the ringal is capable of “shooting” a jet deadly poison directly into the eyes of an animal or person. The venom firing range of the African spitting cobra is only slightly less. Each spit contains four milligrams of poison. At the same time, the snake strives to make not just one spit, but a whole series. There are series of up to thirty spitting in a row.

Northernmost snake

Reptiles are excellently equipped for life on land, but are almost never found in the Arctic Circle with the exception of two species - the viviparous lizard and common viper. However, in the Arctic, more than 0.5 degrees N latitude. they don't come in.

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The snake attacks so quickly that it manages to bite its victim four times in a split second. If a person moved with the same acceleration, he would simply lose consciousness.

The Texas rattlesnake, lurking among the sands and meadows of southern California (USA), is one of the most patient predators in the world.

These snakes typically spend their lives alone, lying in wait for their next meal.

They can wait a long time. If necessary, they can go without food for up to two years, but as soon as they get the chance, they become one of the most dangerous and skillful hunters on the planet.

And, like all snakes, their main weapon is not size or strength, but speed.

For clarity, it takes a person about 200 milliseconds to blink. It turns out that during this time a particularly ruthless snake is capable of biting him as many as four times.

This is an almost unimaginable speed: it turns out that snakes bite much faster than we can move.

In fact, if we moved as fast as snakes, we would simply faint.

“In most cases, potential prey has no chance of surviving,” says David Penning, an employee at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (USA).

He spent several months observing rattlers, as well as a wide variety of venomous and harmless snakes, using a high-speed camera.

“These predators are able to reach their target and strike before the prey even realizes it is under attack.”

It's not just rattlers that can move that fast. The total number of snake species on the planet is estimated at 3.5 thousand - from tiny vipers to huge pythons - but very few of them have been studied.

However, even if we take only those species that have already been studied, it is obvious that very many are capable of developing such amazing acceleration.

This is due to the unique physiology of snakes, which has been perfected over millions of years.

Firstly, snakes are extremely muscular. While the human body has 700-800 muscles, snakes - even the smallest ones - have from 10 to 15 thousand.

How this abundance of muscles allows the snake to move at such breakneck speeds is still unknown.

Some people believe that they compress and accumulate energy to throw, and then straighten out like a spring.

However, snakes have an even more interesting feature that baffles scientists.

Because these reptiles attack at such speed, enormous forces are applied to their bodies - ones that would completely immobilize almost any animal.

Penning discovered that at the moment of throwing the snake experiences a force 30 times greater than the force of gravity.

At the same time, the most trained fighter pilots feel that their arms and legs stop obeying them even under an overload that is 8 times greater than the force of gravity, when they perform rapid stunts in the air.

Under the influence of an overload of 10 times the force of gravity, they quickly lose consciousness.

“Chameleons and some salamanders are known to rapidly extend their tongues towards the prey when attacking, and the acceleration can be much greater than that of a stinging snake,” explains Penning. “However, the main difference is that in this case only the tongue moves, not the brain."

The brain is simply not able to withstand high acceleration.

"The brain is an incredibly delicate organ that is hypersensitive to acceleration and impact," says Penning. "That's why American football players wear helmets and why concussions are considered serious injuries."

When a fighter pilot is exposed to high acceleration, blood flows to the legs, depriving the brain of vital oxygen.

If this happens too quickly, the blood does not have time to return back to the brain, and the person loses consciousness.

However, snakes manage to cope with this difficulty and maintain complete control over the situation, while moving with much greater acceleration and striking their prey with crushing force. This is partly due to the structure of the snake's skull.

“The snake’s skull is incredibly dynamic and flexible,” says Penning. “Having so many different joints gives the snake flexibility and maneuverability.”

Penning believes the difference is the same as "hitting a bag or hitting a brick wall."

According to him, “the wall stands still and takes the entire blow, and the bag moves, as if distributing the shock.”

Scientists are now trying to figure out how the skeleton and nervous system of a snake behave in such extreme circumstances.

They are going to use the knowledge gained to protect a person in situations where his body is subject to a large overload.

The idea that studying snake attack tactics will help us design cars that better protect people from impact may seem funny. But it is much closer to reality than one might expect.

"We're now trying to figure out exactly what happens when a snake strikes its prey," Penning said.

“Snakes are able to extend their heads, freeze, immediately shift into a defensive position, and then repeat these movements over and over again.”

“The question is what helps them endure such stress relatively painlessly, and whether their secret can be used in the future for the benefit of humanity,” he concludes.

Tags: snake interesting nature speed swiftness

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oppps.ru

The fastest snake - 24SMI

In this material, the fastest snake on the planet – the black mamba – will appear before you “in all its glory.” We will tell you about the places where the snake lives, what speed it develops, and what size it has. Also, do not forget that, in addition to its speed skills, the black mamba has a real predator instinct, which helped it adapt to almost any habitat. The black mamba is also one of the most poisonous and deadly snakes, which the inhabitants of Africa fear like fire.

The snake got its terrifying name because of its mouth cavity, which is completely covered in black. The rest of the snake's body is colored yellow-green or metallic gray tones.

Meeting a black mamba is not at all difficult if you are an inhabitant of the southeastern part of Africa. The black mamba is found throughout almost the entire territory of southeast Africa, except Namibia and South Africa. Because of their innate instincts survival, the black mamba was able to adapt to all kinds of climatic conditions. Its favorite habitats are savannas, forests, rocks and even swamps.

Most of the land in Africa is occupied by areas devoted to agriculture, therefore the black mamba is often found in ordinary fields and is not at all afraid of people. The snake is even able to climb to the very top of the reeds to bask in the sun after a cold night.

Therefore, it is not surprising that most attacks on humans by black mamba occur in rural areas. Frequent cases of attacks are due to the fact that most of even the largest fields in Africa are still processed manually. On average, about 20 thousand people die from the bite of a black mamba in southeast Africa. Moreover, the largest number of victims occurred due to the banal stupidity of people who thought that catching and killing a black mamba would not be difficult.

The black mamba is the fastest snake in the world, capable of reaching speeds of up to 25 km/h (about 6.5 meters per second). As you may have guessed, to escape from a snake you will have to work hard. But often the black mamba does not use its speed for pursuits, because it mainly hunts, sitting deep in ambush and hiding. The snake needs so much high speed moving in space in order to escape from various threats. After all, somehow only a snake senses even the slightest threat to its life; it immediately retreats several hundred meters.

2.5 meters is the average length of a black mamba. Less commonly, you can find longer specimens, the length of which can reach 4.5 meters.

The most terrible enemy of the black mamba is the mongoose. Not only are these cute animals quite agile and love to feast on snakes, but they are also not affected by the venom of the black mamba. Therefore, snakes are a favorite delicacy of mongooses. But, it’s true, mongooses mostly kill young and inexperienced snakes, while they prefer to interact with adult representatives much less often. But then wild boars They are quite brave and prefer to fry both of them.

The black mamba is aggressive not only during the hunt, but can also attack for no particular reason. When attacking, the mamba rests its entire body on the tip of its tail, thereby the front part of its body to make a lightning-fast throw in the direction of the chosen victim. To dodge such an attack, you must either have the same incredible reaction, or simply be born with a shirt on.

Mamba venom is extremely toxic. It contains neurotoxins, cardiotoxins, dendrotoxins and muscarinic cholinergic receptor blockers. In just one bite, a snake can inject 100 to 150 mg. poison while lethal dose for humans is approximately 10 mg. To put it simply, if the antidote is not administered in the first minute after the bite and the victim is not provided with the necessary medical care, then death cannot be avoided.

You can hear a lot of horror stories and legends about the black mamba, but real cases involving this snake leading role, much more terrifying. For example, one day a black mamba managed to get through a chimney into a hut in which seven people were calmly resting after a hard day at work. Perhaps the people would have been able to escape if one of them had not stepped on the snake’s tail. Defending itself and fleeing the threat, the snake bit everyone in the hut several times. The irony is that in the dark room the snake was not even visible, and people could not understand who was biting them.

Despite its “cold-bloodedness,” the black mamba still prefers to avoid direct contact with people, and most often attacks to protect itself.

Unfortunately, an antidote for black mamba bites is not yet widely available. Therefore, there are still a lot of deaths from snake bites every year. But at least now there's a possibility fatal outcome does not constitute a 100% guarantee, as it was previously before the advent of the vaccine.

24smi.org

Record-breaking snakes: the very best | Let's sit and talk

The Year of the Snake is approaching according to the eastern horoscope, and why not dedicate today’s post to it? Let's sit and talk about what types of these mysterious animals exist on our planet, what conditions they live in, what they eat, how they reproduce. There are many varieties of them, some live underground, others under water. Some are poisonous, others are not, of various colors and sizes, viviparous and those that lay eggs.

But today let’s remember the record-breaking snakes: the very best.

The longest snake is the anaconda boa constrictor. It lives in the swampy banks of the Amazon and feeds on fish, small animals and birds. The maximum length of the boa constrictor that was recorded reached 11.43 m; it was this “snake” that was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

And in Egypt, during excavations, the remains of an ancient snake were found - the Giant African python, its estimated length was 11.8 m.

And only recently, in 2002, a reticulated python was found on the island of Sumatra, its length was 14.85 m and its weight was 447 kg. Now he lives in a menagerie on the island. Java is proudly called Guihua.

The largest snake that lives in captivity, currently in the terrarium of the New York Zoological Society, is the Giant (green) anaconda, 9 m long and weighing 130 kg.

The largest venomous snake is the king cobra, it lives in India and Indochina. The length of these reptiles can reach up to 5.5 meters. They very often live close to humans, the reason for which is the deforestation of tropical forests. Cobra, oddly enough, feeds on other types of snakes. There are times when she can attack them when they are already hunting prey.

The smallest snake is the Brahmin blind snake or blind snake (more like a well-fed earthworm), lives on the island of Nosy Be, near Madagascar.

The length of this little one is only 10 cm. This snake shares primacy with the two-lined narrow-mouthed snakes. It can only be found on the islands of Martinique, Santa Lucia and Barbados in the Caribbean Sea. The “shortest” snake of this species had a length of 108 millimeters.

The shortest venomous snake is the African viper. It lives on the coast of Namibia in the sand dunes. Its average length is 20-23 cm. It has a very unusual way of hunting: the snake buries itself in the sand, with only its eyes and the tip of its tail sticking out, which serves as bait. These reptiles obtain the necessary moisture from their victims. They also lick condensation off themselves, which allows them to survive in such harsh conditions without water.

The thinnest snake is the common belted snake. Its length is 2 meters, while its thickness is 1-2 cm. The snake looks quite unusual - the head is much larger than the body. They live exclusively in trees and feed on snails and slugs. Their hunting weapons - sharpened fangs - are safe for humans.

The fastest snake on the planet is the black mamba, which lives in Africa. It is almost impossible to escape from this snake; its speed is on average 11 kilometers per hour, and on flat terrain, with short throws, the speed can reach 16-19 km/h.

In addition, the black mamba has earned the title of the most poisonous land snake on the planet, sharing it with the Taipan, whose bites kill 80% of victims (and one dose of its venom can kill 100 people).

The most large number The king cobra secretes 6 ml of venom at a time.

The most poisonous sea snake is the Belcher's sea snake. With one bite, the poison released can cause death in 250 thousand mice.

The most accurate snake on the planet is the ringal. It lives in South Africa and India. She can spit poison at her victim from a distance of 5 meters, and she aims at the victim's eyes. Another snake that “shoots” venom over long distances is the African spitting cobra; its spit flies 2-3 meters.

The most common snake is the common viper, which, moreover, is not afraid of cold weather.

This snake is the only one that can be found in the north (even beyond the Arctic Circle).

The oldest snake is considered to be a common boa constrictor named Popeia (Popeye), he died at the Philadelphia Zoo on April 15, 1977. and lived 40 years and 3.5 months.

The longest-starving snake, the habu viper snake, lived without food for 3 years and 3 months (almost like in a fairy tale, only a very sad one).

There are also types of snakes that can be called “flying” - these are tree snakes. They live in the tropics and are amazingly adept at maneuvering between trees and can even go around them. The S-shape gives them this ability, and they seem to glide through the air.

There is a snake on our planet with the highest ability for thermoregulation - this is the hieroglyphic python, it lives throughout Africa. The female wraps her body around the eggs in a spiral, and the female’s body temperature becomes 7 degrees higher than environment.

AND absolute record, which applies to all snakes, is the number of vertebrae. Snakes are the vertebrates that have the maximum number of vertebrae – up to 435.

In conclusion, I would like to say that no matter what the snake is, small or large, poisonous or not, it must be treated with respect and caution.

P.S. The frightening ability of some snakes to absorb prey significantly larger than their own size. See photo.

posidim-pogovorim.ru

(updated: 17:49 01/13/2017)

MOSCOW, January 13 – RIA Novosti. For the first time, biologists have accurately measured the speed at which a viper or rattlesnake throws out its head and bites its prey. The snake accelerates to 100 kilometers per hour in just 79 milliseconds, according to Scientific Reports magazine.

“In nature, all encounters between predators and prey are unique – they are much more diverse than what we can see when they interact in the laboratory. Modern technologies"allowed us to understand what determines a successful hunt or escape from a predator, and move closer to uncovering the evolutionary factors that drive predators and their prey," said Timothy Higham from the University of California, Riverside.

Since the Middle Ages and even earlier eras, vipers, rattlesnakes and other representatives of the Viperidae family have been considered a symbol of lightning-fast reaction, ultra-high speed and almost guaranteed accuracy of attacking the victim.

All these snakes hunt small mammals and reptiles from ambush, jumping out at great speed, opening their mouths 180 degrees and literally “driving” their fangs into the flesh of the victim. Higham and his colleagues decided to study this process in detail by traveling to the Mojave Desert in the southwestern United States, where rattlesnakes live in abundance.

Having placed camera traps, the scientists connected them to a computer and centrally monitored the hunting of snakes, whose favorite prey are American kangaroo jumpers (Dipodomys merriami) - large rodents similar to jerboas and moving along the sand in the same “jumping” manner.

To photograph the snakes, scientists used high-speed infrared cameras capable of receiving 500 frames per second in three-dimensional format, as well as special thermal “illumination” systems.

Observations immediately dispelled one of the myths: it turned out that snakes quite often miss, flying over or not reaching the rodent, especially if it managed to notice the predator at the last moment. On the other hand, it turned out that snakes actually move very fast.

On average, a snake bites a rodent within 60-70 milliseconds after it comes within the throwing radius. During this time, the snake's head flies about 12-16 centimeters, moving at a speed of three and a half meters per second and accelerating its movement by 170-506 meters per second per second. This corresponds to a g-force of 50 g - the maximum a person can experience - and is approximately equal to the speed at which an airbag in a car deploys.

Despite such impressive speeds and acceleration, the hunt of snakes for rodents ended in success only in half of the cases - in the rest, the jumpers managed to react to the snake’s throw and escape using the muscular “springs” in their legs. In some cases, even this was not required, since the snake made a mistake in calculating the “ballistics” of the throw and missed.

As Higham explains, an evolutionary "arms race" forced jumpers to learn to store energy in their tendons and release it sharply in critical situations. When the snake lunges at the rodent, it quickly jumps to a great height, and the viper flies through the place where it stood 30 milliseconds ago.

In the near future, the authors of the article plan to conduct similar experiments with the participation of other vipers and rodents, which will show whether the rattlesnake is the record holder for speed of movement and acceleration, or whether it has worthy competitors among its relatives.

ria.ru

Here is a black mamba - the fastest snake in the world. Its movement speed reaches 23 kilometers per hour or 6.4 m per second, but only over short distances. True, the reptile uses its speed more often to escape from enemies, since it hunts while sitting in ambush, waiting for its prey.

Mamba is found from Senegal to South West Africa. Lives on the ground among bushes and grass. It crawls onto trees extremely rarely, as it is poorly adapted to life on them. At the same time, it often settles in fields among deep thickets. Since the lands are often cultivated by workers, and even manually, they are attacked by a snake. Almost no one survives.

The average length is 2.5-3 m, although sometimes specimens up to 4.5 m long are found in nature. Young animals are greenish in color, while adults are painted black or brown, the abdomen is white or light brown. It is famous for its aggressive character - it usually attacks first. Leaning on its tail, it raises the front part of its body and makes an instant throw towards its victim, immediately inflicting a bite.

Snake venom is incredibly toxic. Contains dendrotoxins, cardiotoxins, neurotoxins, blockers of voltage-dependent potassium channels of nerve fibers and blockers of muscarinic cholinergic receptors. In one bite, it injects about 100-150 mg of poison, in rare cases - up to 400 mg. At the same time, the lethal dose for humans is only 10-15 mg, and for an animal it is even less. If the antidote is not administered within the first minute, the probability of death can reach 100 percent.

samie-samie.ru

Fast news today

For the first time, biologists have accurately measured the speed at which an adder or rattlesnake throws out its head and bites its prey, finding that the snake accelerates to 60 mph in just 79 milliseconds, according to a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“In nature, all encounters between predators and prey are unique - they are much more diverse than what we can see when they interact in the laboratory. Modern technology has allowed us to understand what determines a successful hunt or escape from a predator, and to get closer to uncovering the evolutionary factors that drive predators and their prey,” said Timothy Higham from the University of California, Riverside (USA).

Since the Middle Ages and even earlier eras of human existence, vipers, rattlesnakes and other representatives of the viper family (Viperidae) have been considered a symbol of lightning-fast reactions, ultra-high speed and almost guaranteed accuracy of hitting the victim.

All these snakes hunt small mammals and reptiles from ambush, jumping out at them with great speed, opening their mouths 180 degrees and literally “driving” their fangs into the flesh of the victim. Higham and his colleagues decided to study this process in detail by traveling to the Mojave Desert in the southwestern United States, where the famous rattlesnakes live.

Having placed camera traps throughout the desert, scientists connected them to a computer and centrally monitored the movements and hunting of snakes, the favorite prey of which are American kangaroo jumpers (Dipodomys merriami) - large rodents similar to jerboas, moving along the desert sands in a similar “jumping” manner.

To photograph the snakes, scientists used high-speed infrared cameras capable of receiving 500 frames per second in three-dimensional format, as well as special thermal “illumination” systems. When the snake began to hunt, the computer alerted Higham and his team, and the scientists began to “manually” monitor how the vipers tried to catch the jumpers. Scientists have made it easier for snakes by scattering plant seeds around them that their victims eat.

These observations dispelled one of the myths associated with vipers - it turned out that they quite often miss, flying over or missing the rodent, especially if he managed to notice the predator at the last moment before the rattlesnake leaps. On the other hand, it turned out that vipers really move very quickly and bite with tremendous force.

On average, a snake strikes a rodent within 60-70 milliseconds after the jumper enters the strike radius. During this time, the snake's head flies about 12-16 centimeters, moving at a speed of 3.5 meters per second and accelerating its movement by 170-506 meters per second squared. This equates to 50 g of force - the maximum a person can experience - and is about the same speed as the airbags in a car are expelled.

Despite such impressive speeds and acceleration, the snake’s hunt for rodents ended in success only in half of the cases - in 50% of cases, the jumpers managed to react to the snake’s jump and escape using peculiar “springs” in their legs. In some cases, this was not even necessary, since the snake made a mistake in calculating the “ballistics” of the jump and did not reach the jumper.

As Higham explains, an evolutionary "arms race" forced jumpers to learn to store potential energy in your tendons and release it in critical situations. When a snake jumps on a rodent, the jumper suddenly jumps up to a great height, and the viper flies through the place where it was standing 30 milliseconds ago.

In the near future, the authors of the article plan to conduct similar experiments with the participation of other vipers and rodents, which will show whether the rattlesnake is the record holder for speed of movement and acceleration, or whether it has worthy competitors among its relatives.

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What is the most dangerous snake on the planet?

In fact, all snakes begin hunting from the first minutes of life. Having hatched, young snakes immediately go hunting... And the fastest and also one of the most poisonous snakes is the mamba, the terrible snake of Africa. Neither cobras nor vipers are feared here as much as these thin-bodied tree snakes; there have been cases when people died 20-30 minutes after its bite. Ordinary venomous snakes crawl at a speed of about 1 km per hour. The mamba has a simply dizzying speed for a snake, recorded by a stopwatch - 11.3 km per hour! But to the question of which snake is the most dangerous in the world, there is no definite answer. The most venomous snakes in the world are the Australian tiger snake, the taipan, the death snake, the king cobra, the African mamba, the American rattlesnake, the cascavella and some sea snakes. Laboratory experiments and tropical everyday life convince us of this: 50-80% of those bitten by these snakes die if medical care is not provided. When biting an ordinary viper - only 5 - 8%, and our most poisonous snakes, vipers and cobras - 10-20%. But snakes with highly toxic venom are not always the most dangerous. Here it is also necessary to take into account the dose of injected poison, the depth of penetration of poisonous teeth (whether they bite through clothes or shoes), whether the snake is aggressive or in a hurry to crawl away, bites immediately or with warning, how well its color camouflages, is active during the day or at night, as is often the case. . For example, boomslang venom is five times more toxic than cobra venom, but the poisonous teeth are hidden deep in the mouth, so the chance poisonous bite decreases. Sea snakes would be very dangerous if it were not for a small dose of venom, short teeth and a peaceful disposition (they bite reluctantly, like bungars, cobras, Gaboon and noisy vipers). The bushmaster has long teeth (up to 4 cm!) and a decent dose of poison, and the poison is powerful, but this snake is extremely rare, even in the Amazon River valley, where its main habitats are. But the jararaka, the most numerous snake in Brazil, is responsible for up to 90% of all snake bites in this country, but its venom is quite weak. There are a total of 410 species of venomous snakes on earth, which is more than 1/6 of all snakes in general! Among them are marine species - 49 species, vipers - 58 species. There are 122 species of pitheads (here are our copperheads, jararaks, bushmasters and rattlesnakes). Aspids (cobras, mambas, taipans, tiger and death snakes) - 181 species. And two types of African cobras - the collared and black-necked - can spit! The spit, of course, is poisoned, it contains 4 mg of poison. It flies out of the holes of the poisonous teeth and flies 2-3 meters. There can be a whole line of 30 spits in a row! Usually the cobra aims at the eye of an approaching person or animal. It hits right. True, sometimes he shoots poison by mistake at shiny buttons, buckles, watches... :)

digger worm

My neighbor from the floor, damn it!

The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is one of the most dangerous, fastest and fearless snakes in Africa. It belongs to the genus mambas (Dendroaspis), which is Latin for “tree snake”. The black mamba is the holder of first place in the speed of movement among snakes; at short distances it reaches speeds of up to 20 km/h. It also has the strongest neurotoxic poison and is one of the twenty most poisonous snakes on the planet. Due to its bad character and full use of its physical capabilities, the black mamba is not contained in the collections of terrariumists, although it is possible fearless people who keep this snake at home. Black mamba can be found in the zoo's terrariums. Experts consider these snakes to be interesting to study and observe.

Taipan or Fierce Snake Distribution: Central Australia Habitat: Inhabits dry plains and fields. Food: Eats small mammals and frogs. The strength of the poison is such that in one bite it can kill about 100 adults or 250,000 thousand mice. Maximum dose (per bite) 100 mg.

King Cobra

green mamba... it is more dangerous than black...

It's called MOTHER-IN-LAY

The most dangerous ANACONDA

Australia lives the MOST POISONOUS SNAKE ON EARTH!! ! Here it is, the Taipan or coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) and the Fierce (ferocious) snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus). The dimensions of the taipan are very impressive - up to 3-3.5 m, and the poisonous teeth are more than a centimeter long. In terms of quantity and strength of poison, the taipan surpasses all snakes in Australia; a horse dies from its bite in a few minutes, and several known cases bites of people by taipan invariably ended in their death. The taipan is very aggressive: at the sight of danger, it curls up, flattens its body, vibrates the end of its tail and, raising its front part of the body high, makes several lunges in the direction of the enemy. Unlike other snakes, which crawl away after biting the victim, the taipan clings to the victim and bites it repeatedly, injecting venom. Very often, it does this so quickly that victims do not even have time to react before being bitten several times. Most of the venom enters the victim's body during the first bite. The strength of the poison is such that in one bite it can kill about 100 adults or 250,000 thousand mice. Maximum dose (per bite) 100 mg. A person bitten by a taipan can die in just a few minutes; Thus, in the state of Queensland, where taipan bites are most often recorded, every second person bitten dies. The venom glands of the taipan contain an average of 120 mg of poison; maximum - 400 mg. Taipan venom has predominantly neurotoxic (respiratory paralysis) and coagulopathic (impairs blood clotting) effects. Before the development of an antidote to it (in 1955), more than 90% of cases died from a taipan bite

King Cobra

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