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Snakes

Trimeresurus salazar, or Salazar’s pit viper, named for the Harry Potter character Salazar Slytherin

Meet the New Species of Snake Named After Salazar Slytherin of the Harry Potter Franchise

Perhaps the fictional Hogwarts founder would have appreciated the honor

Some rough-skinned newts host bacteria on their skin that produce the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin to keep predators at bay.

New Research

Toxic Newts Use Bacteria to Become Deadly Prey

Scientists discover neurotoxin-producing bacteria living on the skin of rough-skinned newts

A cat-eyed snake eats a toad in Panama. Many snakes depend on amphibians and their eggs for nutrition.

Tropical Snakes Suffer as a Fungus Kills the Frogs They Prey On

Surveys of reptiles in central Panama show the ripple effects of an ecological crisis

The Cape coral snake is a venomous species that lives in arid regions of southern Africa.

New Research

The Future of Antivenom May Involve Mini Lab-Grown Snake Glands

The antiquated technique used to produce antivenom requires injecting venom into horses and this new method may someday remove that step from the process

The venomous Indian cobra (Naja naja) is one of the deadliest snakes in the world.

Newly Sequenced Indian Cobra Genome Could Lead to Better Antivenoms

A genetic approach could circumvent the pitfalls associated with current antivenom synthesis techniques

Presenting Smithsonian magazine's top ten stories of 2019

Our Top Ten Stories of 2019

From a 16-million-year-old tree to Confederate soldiers’ diaries, voracious snakes and England’s warrior king, these were the most-read stories of 2019

Why did this cheeky snake have two hind legs?

New Fossils Unlock Evolutionary Secrets of Two-Legged Snakes

Scientists have known about the ancient snake group Najash for years, but were not able to gain a thorough understanding of its skull until now

Ian Bartoszek and Katie King recapture the 50-pound sentinel snake Johnny, who has led his minders to 18 adult Burmese pythons for removal.

The Snakes That Ate Florida

Bounty hunters and biologists wade deep into the Everglades to wrestle with the invasion of giant pythons threatening the state’s wetlands

Yum?

Cool Finds

This 1,500-Year-Old Chunk of Fossilized Human Poop Contains Remains of a Whole Rattlesnake

Researchers believe an ancient hunter-gatherer consumed the reptile whole as part of a ceremonial or ritualistic event

The sizable specimen was carrying 73 developing eggs at the time of her capture

Cool Finds

Record-Breaking 17-Foot-Long Burmese Python Found in Florida

The 140-pound snake is the largest ever captured in the Florida Everglades’ Big Cypress National Preserve

This isn't the first time snakes have been found inside of coral snakes' stomachs, but it is the first recorded instance of a new genus being identified from the remnants of a fellow serpent’s last meal.

Cool Finds

A New Snake Species Was Found in Another Snake’s Stomach

The so-called “mysterious dinner snake” represents not only a new species, but an entirely new genus

The project aims to map the "Big Four," or the four most common venomous snakes in India—the spectacled cobra, saw-scaled viper, Russell’s viper (shown here) and common krait.

This App Is Saving Thousands of Snakes (and Humans) in India

The Big Four Mapping Project’s conservation tool helps prevent snakebites and the killing of common venomous species

A Burmese python that was captured in Florida's Everglades National Park.

Newly Discovered Hybrid Pythons Are Threatening Florida’s Wildlife

A new study has found that some invasive Burmese pythons carry DNA from another snake, which could make them more adaptable—and more dangerous

Why Rattlesnakes Are Just as Dangerous Dead or Alive

After receiving bite from decapitated Western diamondback, Texas man required 26 doses of antivenom

Megachirella, the mother-of-all-lizards (and snakes).

Cool Finds

Oldest Lizard Fossil Shows These Reptiles Are The Ultimate Survivors

The 250-million-year-old specimen from the Alps suggests that lizards evolved before Earth’s largest mass extinction—and thrived after it

Watch a Man Snatch an Angry Cobra With His Bare Hands

How do you deal with a king cobra that’s holed up in a busy village in India? If you’re Gowri Shankar, it’s a simple matter of snake by the tail

Young pythons warm themselves

New Research

Study Reveals Pythons Take Care of Their Offspring, For a Little While

The southern African python wraps around its eggs to keep them warm and does the same for its snakelets during the first weeks of life

The black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) that sprayed venom into Wandege’s eye.

When Science Means Getting Cobra Venom Spat Into Your Eye

How a reptile mix-up and a fortuitous dose of breastmilk helped researchers tap into biodiversity in Africa’s eastern Congo

Is fear of creepy crawlies nature or nurture?

New Research

Spiders Give You the Heebie Jeebies? You Might Be Born With That Fear

New research shows that even babies are creeped out by these wriggly critters

Taxonomic vandalism can have disastrous consequences for wildlife conservation—but it could also impact human health. Shown here, an African spitting cobra poised to strike.

A Few Bad Scientists Are Threatening to Topple Taxonomy

Naming species forms the foundation of biology—but these rogue researchers are exposing the flaws in the system

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