Elapidae is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydocephalus. Many members of this family exhibit a threat display of rearing upwards while spreading out a neck flap. Elapids are endemic to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, with terrestrial forms in Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Americas and marine forms in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Members of the family have a wide range of sizes, from the 18 cm (7.1 in) white-lipped snake to the 5.85 m king cobra. Most species have neurotoxic venom that is channeled by their hollow fangs, and some may contain other toxic components in varying proportions. The family includes 55 genera with around 360 species and over 170 subspecies.
Bothrops atrox — also known as the common lancehead, fer-de-lance, barba amarilla and mapepire balsain — is a highly venomous pit viper species found in the tropical lowlands of northern South America east of the Andes, as well as the Caribbean island of Trinidad. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Spilotes pullatus, commonly known as the chicken snake, tropical chicken snake, or yellow rat snake, is a species of large nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the Neotropics.
Leptophis ahaetulla, commonly known as the lora or parrot snake, is a species of medium-sized slender snake of the family Colubridae. The species is native to Central America and northern South America.
Dendrelaphis pictus, commonly known as either the common bronzeback, painted bronzeback, or Indonesian bronzeback, is a species of colubrid snake found in Southeast Asia.
Bungarus bungaroides, the northeastern hill krait, is a venomous species of elapid snake.
The lesser black krait is a species of venomous elapid snake found in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The specific epithet is after Latin lividus, meaning “bluish metal-colored” or “lead-colored”, referring to the snake's coloration.
The greater black krait or black krait, is a species of krait, a venomous snake in the genus Bungarus of the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to South Asia.
The yellow-lipped sea krait, also known as the banded sea krait or colubrine sea krait, is a species of venomous snake found in tropical Indo-Pacific oceanic waters. The snake has distinctive black stripes and a yellow snout, with a paddle-like tail for use in swimming.
Sea snakes, or coral reef snakes, are elapid snakes that inhabit marine environments for most or all of their lives. They belong to two subfamilies, Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae. Hydrophiinae also includes Australasian terrestrial snakes, whereas Laticaudinae only includes the sea kraits (Laticauda), of which three species are found exclusively in freshwater. If these three freshwater species are excluded, there are 69 species of sea snakes divided among seven genera.
In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that contacts the paraventral (lowermost) row of dorsal scales on either side. The anal scale is not counted.
Sea kraits are a genus of venomous snakes, Laticauda. They are semiaquatic, and retain the wide ventral scales typical of terrestrial snakes for moving on land, but also have paddle-shaped tails for swimming. Unlike fully aquatic ovoviviparous sea snakes, sea kraits are oviparous and must come to land to digest prey and lay eggs. They also have independent evolutionary origins into aquatic habitats, with sea kraits diverging earlier from other Australasian elapids. Thus, sea kraits and sea snakes are an example of convergent evolution into aquatic habitats within the Hydrophiinae snakes. Sea kraits are also often confused with land kraits , which are not aquatic.
The katuali or flat-tail sea snake is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae. The species is found only in the waters of the Pacific Islands nation of Niue.
Crocker's sea snake is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Laticaudinae of the family Elapidae. The species is native to Oceania.
In biology, kleptothermy is any form of thermoregulation by which an animal shares in the metabolic thermogenesis of another animal. It may or may not be reciprocal, and occurs in both endotherms and ectotherms. One of its forms is huddling. However, kleptothermy can happen between different species that share the same habitat, and can also happen in pre-hatching life where embryos are able to detect thermal changes in the environment.
The extant (living) reptiles of New Zealand consist of numerous species of terrestrial lizards and the lizard-like tuatara, and several species of sea turtles and sea snakes. All but one species are native to New Zealand, and all but one of the terrestrial species are endemic to New Zealand, that is, they are not found in any other country. Many species of foreign reptiles enter New Zealand through accidental importation or smuggling, but only the Australian native Lampropholis delicata has become established in the wild, and it is considered an invasive pest.
The yellow-bellied sea snake is a venomous species of snake from the subfamily Hydrophiinae found in tropical oceanic waters around the world except for the Atlantic Ocean. For many years, it was placed in the monotypic genus Pelamis, but recent molecular evidence indicates it lies within the genus Hydrophis.
The New Caledonian sea krait is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Laticaudinae of the family Elapidae. The species is native to the waters around New Caledonia.
Laticauda guineai is a species of venomous sea snake in the family Elapidae. The species, which was first described by Heatwole, Busack and Cogger in 2005, is native to waters off southern New Guinea.
