The evolutionary history of the mock viper, a mildly venomous, widely distributed Asian snake that mimics highly venomous vipers for self-defense, has been solved. The mock viper represents a ...

"When the cobra runs for her life, she goes like a whiplash flicked across a horse's neck," Rudyard Kipling wrote of the villainous cobra Nagaina in his story of the heroic mongoose Rikki-Tiki-Tavi.

The mystery of the mock viper—a unique species of snake that mimics other highly venomous species—has finally been solved by scientists. The mock viper, native to Asia, is only mildly venomous itself, ...

A groundbreaking study has shed light on how lizards and snakes -- the most diverse group of land vertebrates with nearly 12,000 species -- have evolved remarkably varied jaw shapes, driving their ...

Around 40 million years ago, the ancestors of cobras and kraits — a snake super family called Elapoidea — originated in Asia before its descendants crossed to Africa via the Tethys Sea, a new study ...

The ancestors of cobras and related snakes first emerged in Asia roughly 35 million years ago. Many researchers thought the Elapoidea superfamily of snakes evolved in Africa before slithering their ...

The fossil record of squamates, encompassing both lizards and snakes, provides an intricate account of evolutionary innovation over millions of years. Fossils elucidate key morphological transitions, ...

High in the forest canopy, one genus of snake learned how to solve the problem of flight without wings. Here’s how, according ...

Red snakes are perhaps the most visually stunning of these intriguing reptiles, drawing attention with vibrant shades of ...

Snakes have always been interesting organisms with their mysterious eyes and hunting abilities, but their vision remains one of nature's best-kept secrets. Unlike humans who see a vibrant world of ...

Mock vipers not only look like tree-dwelling vipers but also act like them. Intriguingly, they have a fake ‘fang’ in the front of their mouth, which befools a predator into thinking that they possess ...