How to identify Venomous and Non-Venomous Snakes? Snake Identification based on the Tail, Ventral scales, nature of the Head, Vertebral scales and Jaw scales.

Snakes are extremely well- adapted to a wide variety of habitats namely aquatic, fossorial, arboreal, and terrestrial. The variation of their sizes, shapes, and colors is generally due to the adaptive radiation in a mode of life. Snakes are intrinsically fascinating and form an important component of the biota. Naturally, their curious mode of propulsion, venom, and constricting mechanism have made them an important group of predators, and the interactions maintain a natural balance in almost every ecosystem.

About 3500 species of snakes are recorded on earth inhabiting both land and sea, of which about 375 are venomous. Snakes are abundant all over the world except in the Arctics, New Zealand, and Ireland. It is postulated that there are about 3000 species of terrestrial snakes in the world and they are predominant in the warm climates and lush green regions of the tropics. About 278 species are found in India out of which 58 species are venomous. The snakes are objects of fascination for studies since time immemorial. The body of a snake is often modified to suit its ecological conditions

Fifteen families are currently recognized, comprising 456 genera and over 2,900 terrestrial species. They range in size from the tiny, 10 cm long thread snake to pythons and anacondas of up to 7.6 meters (25 ft) in length.

But, why is basic snake identification skills important?

Increasing industrialization and urbanization have led to habitat loss of these reptiles. Presently many snakes have made their appearance in and around areas with proximity to the human population due to loss of habitats and environmental stress. During such conflicts, people with lesser knowledge about snakes tend to harm or kill the animal for protecting themselves. Many times, non-venomous species are mistaken as venomous ones and are killed. Therefore, basic knowledge of snake identification is required if your residential area also has snake inhabitants. Whenever you spot a snake in your vicinity do not handle it on your own unless you are experienced in snake rescuing. You can either contact a local snake rescuer or an animal rescue NGO if you spot a snake in your residential vicinity.

Snake Identification: (You can use shredded snakeskin and not a live snake for safety purpose)

Starting with the tail:

1) When the tail is Flat and laterally compressed the snake is considered to be venomous for example sea snakes. The majority of sea snakes are highly venomous and all of them have flattened tails.

 Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake (Hydrophis platurus)

2) When the tail is cylindrical and blunt like that of sand boas, then that snake is non-venomous.

Red Sand Boa (Eryx johnii)

3)When the tail is cylindrical and round like that of Terrestrial or land snakes, they can either be venomous or non-venomous

So, the snakes which have cylindrical and round tail they are classified into two categories based on scales on their belly i.e., ventral scales.

A. If the Snake has small scales on the belly and back region like that of Buff Striped Keelback, then it is non-venomous.

 Buff Striped Keelback (Amphiesma stolatum)

Small scales on the belly

B. Those having narrow belly scales like Sand Boa are considered to be non-venomous.

Narrow ventral scales

C. While the snakes having broad belly scales and cover the entire girth of the belly region,

Broad ventral scales

 are further classified into three categories based on the nature of the head:

a) If the scales on the head are small and no pits are visible then the snake is considered to be venomous for example Saw-Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) and Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii)

Saw-Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) head

b) If there is a loreal pit between nostril and eye along with small scales on the head, then the snake is considered venomous. For example, Pit Vipers.

Bamboo Pit Viper (Trimeresurus gramineus)

c) When the snakes have Shields on their head, 

they are further classified into three more categories based on the vertebral scales and jaw scales:

i) When the vertebral scales are not large, the third supra labial shield (upper jaw) is large touching the nostril and eye then the snake is venomous for example cobras and Coral snake

ii) If the Vertebral scales (mid-dorsal on back) are large and hexagonal, four infra labial scales with 4th one largest then the snake is venomous for example Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus)

Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus) infralabial scales

iii) The last category is where none of the prior mentioned features are seen, they are non-venomous. E.g., Indian Rat snake (Ptyas mucosa).

Indian Rat snake (Ptyas mucosa)

I am organizing a quiz on Snake Identification of species endemic to India on the 29th of May link will be made available through the Instagram handle whose link is in the description.

Visit my Instagram handle to see different snake identification and detailed posts on snakes.

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Why How and Which Animals Can Change Colors -10 Amazing Animals That Change Their Colors Other Than Chameleons and Humans

 

“Mother Nature is the greatest artist” -  Rico Besserdich

What comes to your mind first when you read or hear ‘color changing’ animals? Maybe a chameleon or people who constantly change their colors through their behavior. Therefore, I have not included Chameleon and humans in the following list as both of them are very popular in terms of color change and everyone is well aware of them. A wide variety of species of arthropods, cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopuses, and their relatives), amphibians, reptiles, and fish can change color.

You can watch YouTube video on this topic which includes amazing short videos of these animals:  https://youtu.be/7pZO4pj7C0s 

First of all, let’s understand why the organism has to change its color. There are three main reasons to change color:

a)              to avoid predators (camouflage)

b)             to hunt

c)              to communicate (for mating, warning, etc)

How do organisms change their colors?

This depends on what species we are considering. The majority of species perform Metachrosis. Metachrosis is a mechanism by which rapid color change is done through the translocation of pigments and reorientation of reflective plates within small, sack-like organs known as chromatophores. Certain species of insects perform regulation of fluids within the exoskeleton which results in color change. Whereas, certain organisms do not have any control over color change, for this they depend on environmental conditions.

 

Here is the list of 10 organisms that can change their color:

 

Big Blue Octopus (Octopus cyanae)

1.     Big Blue Octopus (Octopus cyanae): It is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This diurnal octopus has special cells called chromatophores. Whenever an octopus sees a prey or predator, then the brain of the octopus sends a signal to these chromatophores and changes the color. There are some muscles under the skin of the octopus that give a smooth or bumpy appearance to the octopus according to the environment.

 

White banded Crab Spider (Misuminoides formosipus)

2.    White  banded Crab Spider (Misuminoides formosipus): They are native to parts of the United States as well as Canada. The line or ridge-like appearance in the area near its face, below the eyes, earns the species its name. These spiders can change the colors between yellow and and it can take up to three days to change the colors. color is obtained due to present guanine and uric acid in their epidermis and yellow color is obtained due to ommochrome pigments. These spiders hide by changing the color between the flowers which is called camouflage and prey on the other insects/pollinators.

 

Common Cuttlefish

3.     Cuttlefish: Commonly known as cuttles, they are cephalopods of Order Sepiida. They are distributed around the world, and over 120 unique cuttlefish species have been discovered. Many species of cuttlefish can change color. Cuttlefish is also called the ‘Chameleon of The Sea’ because it can change the color of its skin within a second. Cuttlefishes use their skin color to avoid predators and for camouflage. They also change the color, pattern, and shape of their skin to communicate with other cuttlefish and to capture their prey. This is done by using chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores under their skin.

 

Golden Tortoise Beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata)

4.     Golden Tortoise Beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata): The golden tortoise beetle is distributed widely in eastern North America, west to about Iowa and Texas.  Its color appears golden because it reflects light rays with fluids present in its exoskeleton. But when external conditions change the beetle has a rare ability to dry the fluids which changes its color to dark red. Its exoskeletons have numerous layers. It adjusts the fluid in it to reflect different wavelengths of light and displays a variety of color shades. Scientists have not found out why the beetles change color, but they think that this helps in avoiding predators by showing the beetle as a poisonous insect.

 

Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla)

5.     Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla): This amphibian is also known as the Pacific chorus frog. The Pacific Tree Frog ranges from British Columbia, Canada to the tip of Baja California, México, and eastward to Montana and Nevada. It can change its color from brown to green. But neither does it change the color to match its surroundings nor it controls this color change. Chromatophores under their skin change color according to air temperature and humidity, which means that color change depends on the environment, not on the frog.

Flounder (Flatfish)

6.     Flounders: They are a group of flatfish species. It changes color to match its surrounding. The process of changing colors and textures is very complex and its mechanism is not completely understood yet. It changes color in just 8 seconds and its eyes and hormones are involved in this process. By experiments, it is known that they can change colors like the Checkerboard of Chess.

Seahorses (Hippocampus sp.)

7.     Seahorses (Hippocampus sp.): Seahorses also change color chromatophores, which are embedded in their skin. Each chromatophore contains one of three or four pigments. Enlargement or retrenchment of the chromatophores via tiny muscles results in different colors being exhibited with varying intensity. The color change is used to avoid predators and to communicate with other Seahorses.

Mimic Octopus [left] mimicking the sea creatures (Flatfish, Lionfish, Seasnake)[right]

8.     Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus): It inhibits the Indo-Pacific oceans. This octopus changes color and mimics other animals such as sea snake, jellyfish, lionfish, sea anemone, mantis shrimp, crabs, and flatfish. It changes the color to frighten the predators, as camouflage, and to attract the prey. It is seen that mimic octopus can mimic the predator’s predator. It is intelligent enough to decide which mimicry behavior would be most suitable at moment and acts upon it. This octopus also has chromatophores under its skin.

Squid

9.     Squids: Squids are cephalopods of Superorder Decapodiformes whose skin is covered in controllable chromatophores of different colors, enabling the squid to match its coloration to its surroundings. They can also change colors like cuttlefish, octopus, and other cephalopods for camouflage, communication, protection, and hunting. Squid make use of diverse kinds of camouflage, namely dynamic camouflage for background corresponding (in shallow water) and counter-illumination (Bioluminescence). This helps to protect them from their predators and allows them to approach their prey.

 Betta Fish (Betta splendens)

10.  Betta Fishes (Betta splendens): It is endemic to the freshwaters of southeast Asia and is also known as Siamese Fighting Fish. It is an aquarium pet fish that changes color over time in response to the diet, age, aquarium conditions (temperature, pH, salinity, etc.) stress, or disease. Similar to the Pacific Tree Frog, it changes colors with respect to environmental changes. If you have this fish in your aquarium, you must have seen it changing colors.

Here ends the list of organisms that changes color. As I said in the beginning, there are many more such organisms in wild that change their color. Comment those which I have not enlisted in this list.

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6 Mnemonic devices To Remember Taxonomic Hierarchy | Taxonomy Mnemonics | Biology Mnemonic In Hindi | Biology Short Tricks

 

A mnemonic is a device or series of words that helps us remember certain facts or large amounts of information. They can come in the form of a song, rhyme, acronym, image, phrase, or sentence. Mnemonics help us remember facts and are particularly useful when the order of things is important. Taxonomy is a very important and vast topic. It is studied in biology lower classes at a basic level as well as in Zoology/Botany at a higher level. To remember the sequence of taxa in the Taxonomic hierarchy, mnemonics are given below. I hope this will be helpful.

The taxonomic Hierarchy in Kingdom Animalia consists of 8 major taxa. They are:

1.   Domain

2.  Kingdom

3.   Phylum

4.   Class

5.    Order

6.    Family

7.    Genus

8.    Species

x

    So, D-K-P-C-O-F-G-S are the initials of each taxon from which a mnemonical sentence can be formed. Here are 6 mnemonic devices to memorize the taxonomic classification system in the above-mentioned sequence.

1. Dear King Plays Chess On Fine Green Slate/Sand.

2. Dangerous Kangaroo Punches Charles On Five Gum Sores.

3. Did King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti/Soup?

4. David Kelly Please Catch Only Four Green Snakes.

5. Do Kindly Place Candy Out For Good Students.

6. Deer Killed Painfully Cries On Five Gun Shots.

To learn more about taxonomy and biological classification watch:

All About Taxonomy | TAXONOMIC HIERARCHY | TAXONOMY EXPLAINED: https://youtu.be/ACMy4t0HM-Q ​

History of Biological Classification | All About Biological Nomenclature | Rules Advantages & Codes: https://youtu.be/nwllwWVE-5M

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