Snakes

Find out everything there is to know about snakes and stay updated on the latest snake news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and snake pictures at LiveScience.com. Learn more about these fascinating creatures as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about snakes.

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Decapitated snake head

Decapitated Snake Head Bites Man. But How?

By Laura Geggel

Shortly after a man killed a rattlesnake in his backyard, the rattlesnake's severed head bit and injected venom into the man, seriously injuring him.

Deadly Pressure: Why These Two Men's Muscles 'Blew Up' From the Inside

By Mindy Weisberger

A life-threatening condition with a boring-sounding name has consequences that are gruesome and potentially deadly.

Pythons Are Cold-Blooded Killers, But At Least They're Not Negligent Mothers

By Mindy Weisberger

Python moms care for their babies, even though it wears them down.

Unfortunate Python Paid 'Deerly' for a Too-Big Meal

By Mindy Weisberger

A deer swallowed (and barfed up again) by a snake weighed more than its predator.

The King (Cobra) Is Dead (and So Is the Python)

By Mindy Weisberger

Judging by the interlocked combatants' bodies, no quarter was given in the final minutes of this deadly struggle.

Python hunter Jason Leon (far right) caught a more than 17-foot-long python near Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida.

Just How Rare Is That Giant Python Captured in the Everglades?

By Dan Robitzski

Hunters caught a record-breaking 17-foot-long (5 meters) Burmese python in the Everglades on Dec. 1, but experts say there are likely hundreds of the massive snakes still in hiding.

inland taipan snake

Pet Snake Nearly Kills Teen: Why the Inland Taipan Is So Deadly

By Tereza Pultarova

An Australian teenager was left fighting for his life after being bitten by his pet inland taipan, one of the most dangerous snake species in the world, according to news reports.

Baby looking at spider on its web.

Baby Arachnophobia: Tots’ Fear of Spiders and Snakes May Be Innate

By Stephanie Pappas

Babies as young as 6 months become vigilant at the sight of creepy-crawlies.

Australian tree frogs (Litoria caerulea) are not terribly discriminating about what they put in their mouths.

Snake Head Pops Out of Frog's Maw in Mesmerizing Photo

By Mindy Weisberger

In a stunning frog photo recently shared widely from Reddit, a swallowed snake isn't going down without a fight.

A 26-foot-long (7.8 meters) reticulated python was recently killed in a village in Indonesia.

Man v. Snake: 26-Foot-Long Python Loses Epic Battle

By Stephanie Pappas

A village in Indonesia enjoyed a snake-meat feast this weekend after a resident wrestled and killed a 26 foot-long (7.8 meters) python.

This Mexican mole lizard, <em>Bipes biporus</em>, was spotted aboveground in June in Baja California by Sara Ruane, professor of evolutionary biology and herpetology at Rutgers University-Newark, who was delighted to see what she had considered to be a "m

Weird Worm-Lizard Creature Looks Like a Serpentine Centaur

By Sarah B. Puschmann

A two-legged creature that looks like a hybrid between a worm and a lizard recently made a rare appearance in Baja California.

Boa constrictor

Pet Boa Bites Woman's Face in Unusual Attack

By Laura Geggel

cuban-boa-hunt-teams.jpg

Scary Snake Strategy: Cuban Boas Hunt in Packs

By Kacey Deamer

Snakes are more social than scientists thought.

Kruger-Sightings-No-Reuse.jpg

14th Hole's a Killer: 2 Deadly Snakes Fight in Golf Course Video

By Kacey Deamer

Two of the world's deadliest snakes were spotted fighting on the green of a golf course.

The newly identified snake species, <em>Zilantophis schuberti</em>, lived about 5 million years ago and bore broad wing-shaped projections on the sides of its vertebrae.

'Winged Serpent' Fossil Found in 5-Million-Year-Old Sinkhole

By Kacey Deamer

The fossilized remains of an ancient "winged serpent" were discovered among hundreds of other snake bones.

Two adult male Cerberus groundsnakes (Atractus Cerberus), newly discovered near the gates of the Refinería del Pacífico, a massive petrochemical complex that reminded the snake's discoverers of hell.

Rare 'Snakes from Hell' Lurk Near Petrochemical Plant in Ecuador

By Stephanie Pappas

A secretive new ground snake gets a mythology-inspired name.

hell snake Atractus

Shhh: A Gallery of Secretive Ground Snakes

By Stephanie Pappas

Check out these photos of Atractus snakes, which typically live in burrows and eat insect larvae.

kingsnake

'King of Snakes' Defeats Larger Serpents by Squeezing Them to Death

By Laura Geggel

How does the mighty kingsnake overpower the even mightier rat snake? It uses its tremendous constriction power, a new study finds.

A python regurgitates its antelope meal.

Blergh! Why a 13-Foot Python Puked Up an Impala (and How)

By Stephanie Pappas

A giant snake loses its lunch.

World's Rarest Boa Snake Seen for 1st Time in 64 Years

By Mindy Weisberger

A tree-dwelling Cropan's boa snake recently captured in Brazil is the first living specimen seen in 64 years.