A snake is an elongated, limbless reptile of the suborder Serpentes of the order Squamata. Because of their 160 to 435 vertebrae, snakes are extremely flexible in their movements.
Snakes crawl along with their belly scales by pushing bends in their body against the surface over which they are moving. The tail is usually quite short, while the head is either indistinctly or clearly delineated from the body. Most snakes kill their prey either by suffocation (the constrictors) or by injecting venom (Venomous snakes), and then waiting for the prey to die, following it by scent. Smooth prey such as new-born mice, fish, amphibians and earthworms are swallowed alive. Snakes can dislocate their bottom jaw from the top, which combined with a bulging windpipe and 'floating ribs' enables them to swallow large prey. Research Snake
Abbreviations
Nature
Research Snake