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Snakes

Serpentes

Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles in the suborder Serpentes (order Squamata). Unlike most lizards, snakes lack movable eyelids (their eyes are covered by a clear “spectacle” scale) and lack external ear openings; however, some legless lizards share one or more of these traits, so distinguishing them often relies on a combination of features (including differences in belly scales and other head/body traits). Many snakes have a highly flexible, kinetic skull: several skull and jaw bones can move independently, and the two halves of the lower jaw are not fused at the chin. This allows snakes to “walk” their jaws over prey and swallow animals that may be larger than the width of their head. Living snakes occur on every continent except Antarctica and are absent from some islands, including Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and New Zealand (among others).

Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles in the suborder Serpentes (order Squamata). Unlike most lizards, snakes lack movable eyelids (their eyes are covered by a clear “spectacle” scale) and lack external ear openings; however, some legless lizards share one or more of these traits, so distinguishing them often relies on a combination of features (including differences in belly scales and other head/body traits). Many snakes have a highly flexible, kinetic skull: several skull and jaw bones can move independently, and the two halves of the lower jaw are not fused at the chin. This allows snakes to “walk” their jaws over prey and swallow animals that may be larger than the width of their head. Living snakes occur on every continent except Antarctica and are absent from some islands, including Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and New Zealand (among others).