Rear Fanged Snakes

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Rear Fanged Snakes

• By Kevin Poore

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There Are Three Different Types of Venomous Snakes
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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

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Rattlesnake
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Front-Fanged

• Rounded so they are pretty efficient but arent
  hollow so they cant work like a hypodermic
  needle
  
• An example is the coral snake

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Coral Snake
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Rear Fanged

• U-shaped
• Dont inject venom, the fangs only channel it
• Dont receive as much attention because they are
  not as dangerous in general
  
• Ex. African Boomslang

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Boomslang
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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

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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 dont exactly fit anywhere else

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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

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Toxins

• Toxins in rear fanged snakes are produced by the
  Duvernoys gland
  
• Species that exist in U.S. arent 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.

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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

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Works Cited

• www.szgdocent.org/
• www.zoobooks.com/
• www.geocities.com/