Small terrestrial viper common in northern Eurasia; SYN. common viper, Vipera berus.
(snake) European venomous snake, the common viper Vipera berus. Growing to about 60 cm/24 in in length, it has a thick body, triangular head, a characteristic V-shaped mark on its head and, often, zigzag markings along the back. It feeds on small mammals and lizards. The puff adder Bitis arietans is a large, yellowish, thick-bodied viper up to 1.6 m/5 ft long, living in Africa and Arabia. + prikaži više

ETYM AS. snaca.
Limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous; SYN. serpent, ophidian.
Reptile of the suborder Serpentes of the order Squamata, which also includes lizards. Snakes are characterized by an elongated limbless body, possibly evolved because of subterranean ancestors. One of the striking internal modifications is the absence or greatly reduced size of the left lung. The skin is covered in scales, which are markedly wider underneath where they form. There are 3,000 species found in the tropical and temperate zones, but none in New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland, and near the poles. Only three species are found in Britain: the adder, smooth snake, and grass snake.
Locomotion.
In all except a few species, scales are an essential aid to locomotion. A snake is helpless on glass where scales can effect no “grip” on the surface; progression may be undulant, “concertina”, or creeping, or a combination of these.
Senses.
Detailed vision is limited at a distance, though movement is immediately seen; hearing is restricted to ground vibrations (sound waves are not perceived); the sense of touch is acute; besides the sense of smell through the nasal passages, the flickering tongue picks up airborne particles which are then passed to special organs in the mouth for investigation; and some (rattlesnakes) have a cavity between eye and nostril which is sensitive to infrared rays (useful in locating warm-blooded prey in the dark).
Reproduction.
Some are oviparous and others ovoviviparous, that is, the eggs are retained in the oviducts until development is complete; in both cases the young are immediately self-sufficient.
Species.
The majority of snakes belong to the Colubridae, chiefly harmless, such as the common grass snake of Europe, but including the deadly African boomslang Dispholidus typus. The venomous families include the Elapidae, comprising the true cobras, the New World coral snakes, and the Australian taipan, copper-head, and death adder; the Viperidae (see viper); and the Hydrophiidae, aquatic sea-snakes.
Among the more primitive snakes are the Boidae, which still show links with the lizards and include the boa constrictor, anaconda, and python. These kill by constriction but their victims are usually comparatively small animals.
All snakes are carnivorous, and often camouflaged for better concealment in hunting as well as for their own protection.
Treatment of snakebite.
Antisera against snakebite (made from the venom) are expensive to prepare and store, and specific to one snake species, so that experiments have been made with more widely valid treatment, for example, trypsin, a powerful protein-degrading enzyme, effective against the cobra/mamba group.
In 1993 Japanese and Brazilian researchers independently identified a protein in the blood of a venomous snake that neutralizes its own venom. In laboratory tests in Australia, this protein, named Notechis scutatus inhibitor (nsi) after the tiger snake from the whose blood it was isolated, was effective against the venom of six other snakes. + prikaži više

ETYM French vipčre, Latin vipera, probably contr. from vivipera; vivus alive + parere to bring forth, because it was believed to be the only serpent that brings forth living young. Related to Quick, Parent, Viviparous, Wivern, Weever.
Any front-fanged venomous snake of the family Viperidae. Vipers range in size from 30 cm/1 ft to 3 m/10 ft, and often have diamond or jagged markings. Most give birth to live young.
There are 150 species of viper. The true vipers, subfamily Viperinae, abundant in Africa and SW Asia, include the adder Vipera berus, the African puff adder Bitis arietans, and the horned viper of North Africa Cerastes cornutus. The second subfamily Crotalinae includes the mostly New World pit vipers, such as rattlesnakes and copperheads of the Americas, which have a heat-sensitive pit between each eye and nostril.
Venomous Old World snakes characterized by hollow venom-conducting fangs in the upper jaw. + prikaži više