Snakes

There are more than three thousand species of snakes on the planet and they are found everywhere except Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland and New Zealand. Approximately 600 species are poisonous and only about 200 — 7% of the total species — are capable of killing or seriously injuring a human.

Non-venomous snakes, which range from harmless snakes to the not-so-harmless python, swallow their prey alive or strangle them to death. Almost all snakes ingest their prey whole (sometimes surprisingly large fangs), regardless of whether they killed them by crushing or poisoning.

Almost all snakes have scales and, like reptiles, are cold-blooded and regulate their body temperature externally. The scales have several functions: they retain moisture in arid climates and reduce friction as the snake moves. Several newly discovered species have almost no scales, except in the region of the abdomen.