The Learning Zone

[Charis]

One: Viperidae
Two: Colubridae
Third: Elapidae

Those would be my guesses too.

[Stefan-A]

If I've calculated correctly, there should be 6 possible answers. I won't say anything about the current guesses, until we have a few more.

Bonus question: Which one is nonvenomous?

[gregmonsta]

1 Elapidae
2 Viperidae
3 Colubridae

You certainly picked the confusing ones :P

[Charis]

Bonus question: Which one is nonvenomous?

I'd guess #2, but that is only a guess.

[indigoman]

colubridae, viperidae, elapidae

[indigoman]

#3 is my guess since i got 2 wrong

[MasSalvaje]

I am going to guess
1. Colubridae
2. Elapidae
3. Vipperidae

and number one is non-venomous.

-Thomas

[ssssnakeluvr]

One: Viperidae
Two: Colubridae
Third: Elapidae


thats what I am going with....pretty sure the first is a viper (but I am no expert by any means...)

[Stefan-A]

1 Elapidae
2 Viperidae
3 Colubridae

You certainly picked the confusing ones :P

You, sir, have answered correctly.


One: Elapidae
Death adder, Acanthophis sp., a prime example of convergent evolution. That snake is actually a close relative of cobras, mambas and taipans. It has however evolved characteristics that are typically found viperids: Short thick body, triangular head, vertical pupils, hinged fangs, a sit-and-wait hunting method etc.

Two: Viperidae
Night adder, Causus sp., One of the more primitive viperids (primitive meaning it has traits that most other lineages don't display anymore).

Three: Colubridae
Montpellier snake, Malpolon monspessulanus,


And they are all venomous.



So, the point of this little exercise was to illustrate that even if rules of thumb are helpful, they have exceptions. Vipers don't always look like typical vipers and elapids don't always look like your average taipan or cobra.

[gregmonsta]

woohoo. a good pointer for the wild .... if you're not 100% sure what it is ... don't pick it up!