Rear Fanged Snakes

Rear Fanged Snakes By: Kevin Poore There Are Three Different Types of Venomous Snakes Large Fanged  Fold up when mouth is closed  They are hollow and work like a hypodermic needle  An example of this type of snake is the rattlesnake Rattlesnake Front-Fanged  Rounded so they are pretty efficient but aren’t hollow so they can’t work like a hypodermic needle  An example is the coral snake Coral Snake Rear Fanged  U-shaped  Don’t inject venom, the fangs only channel it  Don’t receive as much attention because they are not as dangerous in general  Ex. African Boomslang Boomslang More About the Fangs in Rear Fanged Snakes  Designed to hold prey while venom takes effect  Cannot use fangs in a strike  Use jaws to work prey to back of mouth where fangs are  Not very dangerous in general because of the location of fangs How are Rear Fanged Snakes Classified?  Another name for rear fanged snakes is Opisthoglyph snakes  Rear fanged snakes belong to the family of snakes Colubridae  The Family Colubridae is often referred to as the dustbin because this is where snakes are often put that don’t exactly fit anywhere else Where Are They Found?  Most are found in tropics but a few are found in the southwest U.S. These include      Black striped snake Mexican hooknose Western hooknose Texas night snake Northern cat-eyed snake Texas lyre snake Toxins     Toxins in rear fanged snakes are produced by the Duvernoy’s gland Species that exist in U.S. aren’t even capable of killing a mouse Many have prey specific toxin  Ex. Forolonia of Indonesia has venom specific to crabs A few dangerous species do exist outside of U.S. Dangerous Rear Fanged Snakes  2 species of vine snake found in Africa are dangerous  The other is the African Boomslang  The Boomslang can inject venom on a strike unlike most other rear fanged snakes Works Cited  www.szgdocent.org/  www.zoobooks.com/  www.geocities.com/