Crotalidae
Crotalidae (pit vipers; order Squamata, suborder Serpentes) A family of venomous snakes which are closely related to true vipers (Viperidae) but which have heat-sensitive pit organs just behind the nostrils. Their diet consists mainly of birds and small mammals. Tail-rattling mechanisms have been developed in advanced forms (rattlesnakes); these are formed from loosely connected horny segments more of which are added to the ‘rattle’ at each moult. Crotalus horridus (timber rattlesnake) grows up to 1.8 m long and occurs in woodland in the eastern USA. C. cerastes (sidewinder) is small (up to 60 cm) and occurs in the deserts of the southwestern USA; it has a small horn above each eye and its common name is derived from its method of locomotion across soft sand: it proceeds diagonally by throwing its body forward in loops (‘sidewinding’ also occurs in some vipers). There are approximately 130 species in the family, occurring in the Americas and tropical Asia.
More From encyclopedia.com
Apterygota , Apterygota (Ametabola; subphylum Uniramia, class Insecta) The smaller subclass of insects, containing two orders (Archaeognatha and Thysanura), whose… Liriodendron , Liriodendron (family Magnoliaceae) A genus of trees whose leaves have a curiously truncate or bilobed apex. There are 2 species: L. tulipifera (tulip… Skinks , Skinks
North American species of skinks
Other species of skinks
Resources
Skinks are smooth, shiny-scaled lizards in the family Scincidae, most of wh… calycanthus , Calycanthaceae A small family of trees and shrubs, most of them aromatic, with simple, opposite, exstipulate leaves, and flowers that have numerous t… Leptotyphlopidae , Leptotyphlopidae (slender blind snakes, thread snakes; order Squamata, suborder Serpentes) A family of snakes which are similar in appearance and hab… Larks , Larks
Larks are 78 species of small, terrestrial songbirds that make up the family Alaudidae. Larks breed on all of the continents except Antarctica.…
About this article
pit viper
All Sources -
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
pit viper