Apr 5, 2025 · Snake, any of more than 3,400 species of reptiles distinguished by their limbless condition and greatly elongated body and tail. They are classified with lizards in the order Squamata and represent a lizard that, over the course of evolution, has undergone structural reduction, simplification, and loss as well as specialization.

snake, Any member of about 19 reptile families (suborder Serpentes, order Squamata) that has no limbs, voice, external ears, or eyelids, only one functional lung, and a long, slender body. About 2,900 snake species are known to exist, most living in the tropics.

Apr 5, 2025 · Snake - Scales, Venom, Slithering: Snakes have an elongated body and tail, and no limbs. Their body is usually slender, the body shape correlated with the activity level. The vertebral column has more vertebrae than any other living animal—up to 600.

(also spelled Jörmungandr), in Norse mythology, the evil serpent that encircled the world, biting its own tail. Jormungand was also known as the Midgard Serpent, or the World Serpent, because its body coiled around the whole Earth underneath the oceans, and the Earth was called Midgard in Norse cosmology.

A well-known sea serpent in Scandinavian legend was the kraken. It was said to be a mile-and-a-half wide, with many arms that could reach the top of a ship’s mast. According to legend, the kraken would attack a ship, wrap its arms around it, and tip it over.

There is a real-life sea creature called a hydra that appears to have multiple heads and can regrow parts of its body, but it is only about 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) long. Other real-life sea monsters include the oarfish and giant squid.

Mar 21, 2025 · The female nagas (naginis or nagis) are serpent princesses of striking beauty. The dynasties of Manipur in northeastern India, the Pallavas in southern India, and the ruling family of Funan (ancient Indochina) each claimed an origin in the union of a human being and a nagi.

The griffin is a creature in mythology that guarded treasure. It was said to have the head and wings of an eagle, the body of a lion, and the tail of a serpent or a lion.…

Feb 24, 2025 · Quetzalcóatl, (from Nahuatl quetzalli, “tail feather of the quetzal bird [Pharomachrus mocinno],” and coatl, “snake”), the Feathered Serpent, one of the major deities of the ancient Mexican pantheon.

The body is sequentially lifted, anchored, and pushed forward by resistance against the ventral scales. Large, heavy-bodied snakes, such as some of the boas and pythons, typically use caterpillar locomotion.