Snakes (from Old English snaca, and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European base snag- or sneg-, "to crawl"), also known as ophidians, are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. There are also several species of legless lizard which superficially resemble snakes, but are not otherwise related to them. A love of snakes is called ophiophilia, a fear of snakes is called ophidiophobia. A specialist in snakes is an ophiologist.

An old synonym for snake is serpent (which comes from Old French, and ultimately from *serp-, "to creep"); in modern usage this usually refers to a mythic or symbolic snake, and information about such creatures will be found under serpent (symbolism). This article deals with the biology of snakes.

Evolution

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The phylogeny of snakes is poorly known due to the fact that snake skeletons are typically small and fragile, making fossilization unlikely. It has however been generally agreed, on the basis of morphology, that snakes descended from lizard-like ancestors. Recent research based on genetics and biochemistry confirms this; snakes form a venom clade with several extant lizard families.

Recent fossil evidence suggests that snakes directly evolved from burrowing lizards, either varanids or some other group. An early fossil snake, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum, fully terrestrial. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo, although it also is semi-aquatic. As these ancestors became more subterranean, they lost their limbs and became more streamlined for burrowing. Features such as the transparent, fused eyelids and loss of external ears, according to this hypothesis, evolved to combat subterranean conditions (scratched corneas, dirt in the ears). According to this hypothesis, snakes re-emerged onto the surface of the land much as they are today. Other primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs but lacked a direct connection of the pelvic bones to the vertebrae, including Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis) which are slightly older than Najash.

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I've had it with these monkey fighting snakes on this monday friday plane.
jonnyflash (jonnyflash) Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:46:44 -0000
I've had it with these monkey fighting snakes on this monday friday plane.
I elevated up since my snakes in my circumference
glenmarrero (glen marrero) Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:44:14 -0000
I elevated up since my snakes in my circumference
snakes, basketball, Stacy Ragland, Kaden DeWayne, cunnilingus, receiving fellatio, getting money, Law & Order, my family: #thingsilove
DMorris_21 (DeWayne Morris) Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:38:14 -0000
snakes, basketball, Stacy Ragland, Kaden DeWayne, cunnilingus, receiving fellatio, getting money, Law & Order, my family: #thingsilove
yippie kiy-yay no snakes
mantonminnick (manton minnick) Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:36:03 -0000
yippie kiy-yay no snakes
damn ive always known females was SNAKES...but i have trully seen just how low a female will go to show her true WHORE colors
AMAZINofAE (AMAZIN) Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:34:22 -0000
damn ive always known females was SNAKES...but i have trully seen just how low a female will go to show her true WHORE colors
LOL @TweetyBeth Sometimes I Can't Even Look At A Pic Of A Spider... So What Brought The Snakes Up? Planning A Trip To Maine Or Just Random
xDawnMarieX (Dawn! To The Marie) Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:32:54 -0000
LOL @TweetyBeth Sometimes I Can't Even Look At A Pic Of A Spider... So What Brought The Snakes Up? Planning A Trip To Maine Or Just Random

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