Average speed of movement of a poisonous snake. Scientists have measured the speed at which a viper bites for the first time

Ecology

The animal world has its own champions.

Find out the answers to the questions about who flies, swims, runs or crawls the fastest in the animal world.

Here you can learn about the fastest representatives of their kind in the animal world.

The fastest bird is the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus)

This bird of prey from the falcon family can be seen on almost all continents, with the exception of Antarctica.

In nature, there are about 17 subspecies of peregrine falcons.

On our planet it is not only the fastest bird, but also the fastest living creature.

According to experts, in a fast diving flight, a peregrine falcon can reach speeds of up to 322 km/h.

But it is worth noting that in horizontal flight the peregrine falcon yields first place to the swift, whose horizontal flight speed can reach 111 km/h.

Fastest horse - English racehorses

On this moment These purebred riding horses are considered the fastest. If you choose a specific representative, then the fastest one is the purebred stallion Beach Rackit.

He was able to set an absolute record among domestic breeds. During a race in Mexico over a distance of 409.26 meters, Beach reached a top speed of 69.69 km/h. In general, the average speed of English racehorses is 60 km/h.

The fastest fish is the sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus)

This sea fish from the order Perciformes, lives in all oceans of the Earth, preferring tropical, subtropical and temperate waters.

It is worth noting that the sailboat is an active predator and is capable of reaching speeds of up to 100 km/h.

During experiments at the Long Key fishing camp, Florida, USA, this fish was able to swim 91 meters in 3 seconds, which is equal to a speed of 109 km/h.

The fastest animal (land animal) is the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

The cheetah is the fastest land animal. It differs from other cats in that it does not hunt prey, sitting in ambush, preferring to pursue it.

First, the cheetah approaches its prey at a distance of about 10 meters, without particularly trying to be secretive, and then tries to catch potential prey in a short race. During the race, he can reach speeds of up to 110-115 km/h, while reaching a speed of 75 km/h in 2 seconds. It is also worth noting that the cheetah runs in jumps 6-8 meters long.

The fastest dog is the Greyhound

In general, opinions about which dog is the fastest are divided. Some say that this is an English hunting greyhound that boasts very fast running over short distances, which gives them the ability to catch a hare.

If we talk about the wild dog, then it capable of reaching speeds of up to 55 km/h and chasing its prey to the point of complete exhaustion.

And yet, officially, the highest speed among dogs was recorded on March 5, 1994 in Australia, when a greyhound named Star Title was able to accelerate to 67.32 km/h.

The fastest cat is the Egyptian Mau

This short-haired, medium-sized cat breed boasts high-energy cats that love movement and play. Therefore, the Egyptian Mau has a flexible and muscular shape.

In Egyptian, "mau" means "cat". This cat can reach speeds of up to 58 km/h. In addition, Mau have excellent vision, hearing and smell.

The fastest snake is the mamba

The officially recorded speed of this snake is 11.3 km/h, and that's on the ground. In the branches, the mamba is even faster.

In addition, it is one of the most poisonous snakes on Earth, and in Africa there is no other snake that is as feared as the mamba.

The fastest turtle is the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Among reptiles, this is the fastest - in water it can reach a speed of 35 km/h.

Such a turtle weighs 450 kg, and its body length can vary from 1.8 to 2.1 meters.

However, in 1988, a male leatherback turtle was found in Harlech, UK, measuring 2.91 meters in length and weighing 961.1 kg.

The fastest insect

In this case, it is worth dividing into speed on the ground and in the air. The fastest insect on earth is the American cockroach. Its speed reaches 5.4 km/h. It is worth noting that in 1 second he is able to run a distance that is 50 times the length of his own body. Compared to a human, this corresponds to a speed of approximately 330 km/h.

The insect that holds the record in the air is the dragonfly, namely Austrophlebia costalis, which can reach speeds of up to 52 km/h in flight. Since they exist different ways speed measurements, experts cannot definitely say who is faster, dividing between dragonflies, hawk moths and horse flies.

The world of snakes is wide and varied. Among them there are many who are able to amaze with their unique abilities. Some snakes are able to move with amazing speed, others amaze with their colossal strength, and a third can even spit with extraordinary accuracy.

These reptiles live almost everywhere and their relatives can be found on every continent, with the exception of Antarctica. However, on some large islands, such as New Zealand and for some reason there are none in Ireland, just as there are none on many small Pacific islands.

This very heterogeneous tribe already numbers 3,460 different species, and among them there are many that will surprise even the most experienced reader.

In this article we will look at various records set by these mysterious ancient reptiles.

The world of snakes amazes with its diversity: some move with incredible speed, others are surprisingly strong, and still others spray venom directly into the eyes of the enemy.

Longest snake

The most long snake in the world - anaconda. This anaconda boa constrictor living on the territory of the South American continent is one of the longest terrestrial vertebrates that has survived to this day.

The greatest length was achieved by an anaconda caught in Colombia. Careful measurements showed that its length was a full eleven meters and forty-three centimeters.

These snakes live in the impenetrable Amazon jungle and most often their habitat is the swampy banks along this mighty river. These giants feed on animals living on the banks of the Amazon. These are mainly various birds, agouti and nutria. Another giant reptile is the reticulated python. Most major representative This species now lives in one of the Japanese zoos. The length of this overgrown muscular cord is twelve meters and twenty centimeters, and its weight is two hundred kilograms.

True, living in natural environment Pythons of this species have a length from one to six meters. And they weigh from one kilogram to seventy-five. Moreover, pythons living on the mainland are much larger than their island relatives. Reticulated pythons got their name from the complex pattern with a rainbow tint that covers this reptile.

Longest venomous snake

The longest venomous snake is the king cobra, which lives in southern China, Pakistan, Indochina, India, the Philippines and the Mallaka Peninsula. The length of this snake can reach up to five and a half meters. This poisonous creature represents great danger for most animals and humans included. I king cobra so strong that a person dies from such a bite in just a few minutes.

Trying to scare away a person, the snake can make “idle” bites, without injecting poison at all; apparently, the cobra needs it primarily for hunting.

It must be said that this cobra has a fairly long life expectancy by the standards of the animal world, which can reach up to thirty years. Moreover, this snake continues to grow throughout its life. As a rule, king cobras hide in burrows and caves, but they can also crawl into trees. In most cases, they live in a specific area, but sometimes they move over very long distances (up to several tens of kilometers).

King cobras feed mainly on snakes of other species, including poisonous ones. Because of this (and also because of their increased aggressiveness), they are almost never kept in zoos in particular and in captivity in general. It is almost never possible to switch a king cobra to feeding on rats. In nature, king cobras sometimes even eat small monitor lizards. It can live up to three months without food.

The smallest snake

The smallest snake living on earth is the blind snake, which lives on the island of Nosy Be. This island is located near the island of Madagascar. The length of this tiny snake is only ten centimeters. They lead a burrowing lifestyle and are very rarely encountered on the soil surface. Interestingly, these tiny snakes managed to form a rather interesting symbiosis with owls.

These birds catch blind snakes and bring them to burrows, in which they raise their chicks. The owls are unable to cope with the shell of the blind snake, and they abandon them. Then the reptile begins to hunt insects that swarm in the burrows. As shown Scientific research, it is in such burrows that the healthiest owl chicks grow up.

The snake with the best thermoregulation

The snake with the most developed thermoregulatory qualities is the hieroglyphic python. This snake is distributed throughout the area African continent. As you know, snakes are cold-blooded animals, and their body temperature practically does not differ from the temperature environment. However, when the female hieroglyphic python lays eggs, or rather immediately after, she, laying in a spiral, wraps herself around them and warms her offspring with the warmth of her body. Moreover, the body temperature of the mother snake at this time exceeds the ambient temperature by as much as seven degrees, which is a lot for a cold-blooded snake.

The most poisonous land snake

The most poisonous snake among those that live on the land surface is the taipan. Moreover, this is indicated not only by laboratory studies, during which a thorough analysis of the venom of various snakes was carried out, but also by bleak statistics. According to it, from fifty to eighty percent of people who are bitten by these snakes die if health care will not be provided to them in the shortest possible time.

The taipan is one of the most venomous land snakes in the world.

The most poisonous Russian snake

There are two most poisonous snakes in Russia. These two competitors are cobra and viper. Previously, from the bites of these snakes, twenty to thirty percent of all those bitten died. Currently, thanks to the developments of pharmacists who have created quite effective anti-snake serums, the mortality rate among victims of bites has noticeably decreased and now it does not exceed one or two percent.

The world's fastest venomous snake

The fastest venomous snake in the world is the mamba. These arboreal poisonous snakes live in sub-Saharan Africa and prefer to choose piles of stones or abandoned burrows of other animals for their habitat. Their characteristic feature is that they do not limit themselves to one bite and tend to carry out a series of repeated bites, thereby increasing the concentration of venom in the victim’s body.

If a person who is bitten by a mamba does not take the antidote as soon as possible, he will most likely die. Moreover, the least chance of survival is if the bite hits a vein. Then there are only a few minutes left to take the antidote. And if it was not at hand, then... Now add to this the highest speed qualities of the mamba and it will become clear to everyone what powerful killers snakes of this species are.

Scientists have recorded that moving on the ground, the mamba is capable of reaching speeds of over eleven kilometers per hour. As for such a species as the black mamba, in short stretches and on flat terrain, it is capable of reaching speeds of up to twenty kilometers per hour, which is an absolute snake record! But this is on the ground, and among the branches it is even more swift. It is almost impossible for a person, especially in tree thickets, to escape from a mamba. At the same time, these snakes are distinguished by their aggressive nature and often attack first.

Surprisingly, in Africa they live not only in fields and forests, but even in populated areas and houses where mamba are most likely attracted by rodents. The venom of this snake is one of the most powerful, which, combined with the qualities described above, made the mamba the most feared snake on the African continent.

The heaviest snake in the world

Such a heavyweight was a tiger python named Baby. This giant was weighed on November 20, 1998, and the scales showed a weight of 182.5 kilograms. This twenty-five-year-old female was 8.22 meters long and 71.1 centimeters thick.

The heaviest among poisonous snakes

Apparently, the heaviest venomous snake is the diamondback rattlesnake, which lives in the southeastern United States. On average, these snakes have a length from one and a half meters to one hundred and eighty centimeters, and weigh 5.5-6.8 kilograms. The heaviest recorded diamondback rattlesnake weighed 15 kilograms and had a length of 2.36 meters.

Oldest snake

The oldest snake is common boa constrictor named Popeye, who died at the Philadelphia Zoo on April 15, 1977. Popeye lived forty years, three months and fourteen days.

The thinnest snake in Europe

The thinnest European snake is the olive snake. This snake lives mainly on the territory of the Balkan Peninsula. It belongs to the colubrid family and is therefore not poisonous.

Australia's largest snake

The largest snake on the Australian continent is the amethyst python, which is about eight and a half meters long.

The amethyst python is the most large snake Australian continent.

The most common of snakes

The common viper has the largest range among all other snakes living on land. This snake is common in the Eastern and Central Asia, as well as in Central, Western and Northern Europe (including the Scandinavian Peninsula and the British Isles).

The thinnest snake

The thinnest snake in the world is the common belted snake. Its thickness is simply amazing: with a body length of about two meters, its thickness is approximately equal to the thickness of a pencil.

Longest snake fast ever

A case in which a snake went longer than ever without food once occurred in a zoo. Then the adult anaconda refused food for five hundred days. And during a special experiment, the habu viper snake was able to live without food for three years and three months. At the same time, the experimental reptile lost 60.9 percent of its own weight. At the moment, this is the longest hunger strike not only among snakes, but among all vertebrates.

Longest snake ever refuses water

Snakes generally tend to go without water for a long time. For example, in one of the experiments that was carried out on the king cobra, this naturally extremely moisture-loving snake was able to live without water for five whole years.

The most populated place with poisonous snakes

Nine of the ten most poisonous snakes in the world live in Australia! Among them, the most poisonous land taipan, the eastern brown snake, common taipan and tiger snake. The last three snakes occupy the second, third and fourth lines of the venomous rating.

Animal with the most vertebrae

Currently, snakes have the largest number of vertebrae. According to scientists, the record set has not yet been surpassed giant snake Archaeophis proavus – 565 vertebrae!

The most sensitive snakes to temperature measurements

Humanity has been improving its instruments for measuring temperature for about four centuries, but compared to some living thermometers, they look primitive. Rattlesnake has thermoreceptors with which it can detect temperature changes of 1/300 degrees Celsius. Boas can detect temperature changes of a fraction of a degree in 35 milliseconds.

The most accurate snake

When attacking prey, ringals that live in South Africa and India. From a five-meter distance, the ringal is capable of “shooting” a stream of deadly poison directly into the eyes of an animal or person. The venom firing range of the African spitting cobra is only slightly less. Each spit contains four milligrams of poison. At the same time, the snake strives to make not just one spit, but a whole series. There are series of up to thirty spitting in a row.

Northernmost snake

Reptiles are excellently equipped for life on land, but are almost never found in the Arctic Circle with the exception of two species - the viviparous lizard and common viper. However, in the Arctic, more than 0.5 degrees N latitude. they don't come in.

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Pronghorn. This elegant creature is the fastest land animal North America, developing a speed of 90 km/h. Over a short distance, a pronghorn would not be able to outrun a cheetah, but would easily pull away from it over any long course. Their endurance allows pronghorns to migrate hundreds of kilometers every year.

Brazilian folded lip. The fastest of bats, accelerating to almost 100 km/h in a dive. Folded lips live in large colonies in caves, under bridges and in old buildings. In the evenings, they simultaneously fly out to hunt, creating a stunning “cinematic” picture.

Sailfish and swordfish. An interesting example of a tie - different sources call either the sailfish or the swordfish the fastest fish in the world, reaching speeds from 100 to 130 km/h. One study that gives the swordfish the upper hand found, using an MRI, that the fish's upper jaw contains an oil-producing tonsil. By spreading around the fish's head, the oil reduces friction with the water and increases speed.

Kalypta Anna. This bird's top speed limit is 80 km/h, which doesn't seem very impressive until you consider its size. Biologist Christopher Clark from the University of California, Berkeley, calculated that at this speed, the hummingbird covers 385 body sizes per second, experiencing strong overloads of 10G.

Cheetah. Far from being the fastest animal on Earth, inferior to birds, fish and even insects, it is still the fastest land and fastest mammal. Reaches speeds of more than 100 km/h, accelerating from 0 to 100 in three seconds.

Black marlin. According to the BBC, the maximum speed achieved by a black marlin is 130 km/h. It was measured by how quickly the line was reeled from the fishing rod when catching a fish, which is a somewhat controversial method. Was the boat moving at that moment, was the fish swimming in a straight line? Either way, it is no surprise that with such speeds, black marlin are very popular among sport fishermen.

Horsefly. If you've ever been chased by one of these biting critters, you know how fast they are. Jerry Butler, an entomologist at the University of Florida, states that an adult male Hybomitra horsefly reaches speeds in excess of 144 km/h. True, it is difficult to accurately measure the speed of an insect due to its size, nonlinearity of flight and other factors.

Needle-tailed swift. This bird reaches speeds of almost 170 km/h, making it the fastest flying animal. It lives in Asia and Australia, occasionally flying to Europe.

Mite. If we take the fastest animal in the world in relation to the length of its own body, then no one will keep up with the tick of the species Paratarsotomus macropalpis. In a second, it covers a distance of 320 of its own dimensions - the same as people would accelerate to 2090 km/h.

Peregrine Falcon. Although the peregrine falcon flies slower than the needle-tailed swift, in a dive after prey it accelerates to 390 km/h. The claw strike after acceleration is so strong that it can tear off the victim's head.

Reading time: 3 minutes. Views 4.1k. Published October 14, 2014

The world's largest snake
Reticulated python. 12.2 m.
Probably the longest snake in the world. The largest individuals of the nominate subspecies can reach a length of 10 m or more. However, individuals 4-8 m long are more common. Record specimen reticulated python, who lived in one of the zoos, according to unconfirmed reports, reached a length of 12.2 m

The smallest snake in the world.
Barbados narrowmouth snake.
To date, the largest specimen of this species barely reaches 10.4 cm. These snakes feed exclusively on termites and ant larvae. They live only one season - from spring to autumn. One female snake usually lays one large egg, from which offspring emerge the following spring. Interestingly, the newborn snake reaches almost half the length of the mother, in contrast to big snakes, in which the size of the children is approximately one tenth of the body length of the parents. The size of the baby Barbados narrowmouth snake is determined by the boundary conditions of survival.

The most poisonous snake.
Tasmanian tiger snake.
There may be a lot of controversy here, but in terms of the level of aggressiveness, toxicity of the poison and the speed of death, the tiger snake is the leader among poisonous snakes. Lives on the island of Tasmania.

The most aggressive snake.
Yellow-bellied snake.
The yellow-bellied snake is a fairly large snake, it reaches two meters in length, and is considered the most aggressive not only in Europe, but throughout the world. When meeting a person, she does not even try to hide, but on the contrary, she rushes to attack. Quite large specimens can jump up to 1 meter, while taking a threatening pose, and throw a loud hiss right into the face of the enemy. One good thing is that it is not poisonous!

The most common snake.
Common viper.
And here is a snake that probably everyone has had the chance to meet. And it is also in our top as the most common on the planet!

The largest poisonous snake.
King Cobra.
It lives in India and Indochina. The length of these reptiles can reach up to 5.5 meters. They very often live near humans, the reason for which was deforestation tropical forests. Cobra, oddly enough, feeds on other types of snakes. There are times when she can attack them when they are already hunting prey.

The smallest poisonous snake.
Puff adder.
It lives on the coast of Namibia in sand dunes. Its average length is 20-23 cm. It has a very unusual way of hunting: the snake buries itself in the sand, with only its eyes and the tip of its tail sticking out, which serves as bait. These reptiles obtain the necessary moisture from their victims. They also lick condensation off themselves, which allows them to survive in such harsh conditions without water.

The thinnest snake.
Ordinary belt-shaped.
Its length is 2 meters, while its thickness is 1-2 cm. The snake looks quite unusual - the head is much larger than the body. They live exclusively in trees and feed on snails and slugs. Their hunting weapons - sharpened fangs - are safe for humans.

The fastest snake.
Black mamba. It is almost impossible to escape from this snake; its speed is on average 11 kilometers per hour, and on flat terrain, with short throws, the speed can reach 16-19 km/h.

The most poisonous sea snake.
Belcher's sea snake. With one bite, the poison released can cause death in 250 thousand mice.

Today, scientists know a species of snake that can rightfully be called the fastest in the world. We are talking about a reptile living in Africa - the black mamba. Few European residents know which snake is the fastest and that it lives on the southernmost continent of the world. However local residents know her firsthand.

The fastest snake, whose speed can exceed 20 km/h, prefers life in savannah and steppe conditions, but often visits the homes of people living in African countries. It is noteworthy that the existing myth that a black mamba can pursue a victim for a long time is just a fiction. She can move at great speed, but only for short distances. In this article we will look at what is the fastest snake in the world where it lives, its methods of movement and body structure.

Habitats

The black mamba is an exclusively African species of snake. It is distributed throughout Africa, but its most preferred areas are the arid areas of the southern and eastern parts of the continent. The main habitats are savannas and woodlands. Mostly the fastest snake leads a terrestrial lifestyle, but sometimes climbs trees. The black mamba has a very wide habitat. These reptiles are often found in Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Congo, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. In addition, experts claim that encounters with this reptile have been recorded more than once in the territories of Rwanda and Burundi.

The black mamba is not adapted to life in trees, so it lives in savannas, among small bushes. Often, in order to bask in the sun, she climbs a tree, but spends most of her life on the ground. In rare cases, the reptile settles in termite mounds and tree hollows. In addition, there are numerous cases where the fastest snake settled in people's houses. As a rule, it is attracted to small rodents adjacent to humans.

Appearance

What kind of fast snake on land feature for which it received its name? Not everyone knows the answer to this question. This reptile got its name not from its body color, but from a feature of its mouth that gives it an eerie appearance And mortal danger for a person. The size of the fastest snake makes it the second largest venomous snake in the world after the king cobra. It can reach 4 meters in length, but this is maximum size. The standard length of the average individual is from 2 to 3 meters.

Although this reptile bears this name, its color is far from black. It got its name from the unusual coal-black color of its mouth. The snake’s body itself has a dark olive hue with a metallic sheen. At the same time, the back part, closer to the end of the tail, is darker than the rest of the body. The abdomen of the black mamba has a light Brown color. Adults have more dark color bodies, young ones are much lighter.

Black mamba skull

Like other species of snakes, this reptile has a diapsid-type skull with reduced temporal arches. In addition, it is also kinetic, which indicates the possibility of moving bones apart. This function is especially important when swallowing food. The bones of the skull are divided into a number of types: quadrate, temporal, squamosal and maxillary bones. The jaws, both upper and lower, are separated by ligaments that have good elasticity. They are also movably connected to each other, thanks to which the black mamba is able to swallow prey that exceeds the size of its mouth.

Jaws and teeth

The black mamba has well-developed teeth, which are present on both the upper and lower jaws. The teeth are 6.5 millimeters long. They have a thin shape and are very sharp. This is necessary to gradually push food into the esophagus.

It is noteworthy that the jaws and teeth of this reptile, like those of other species of snakes, are not intended for chewing function. In addition to small sharp teeth that serve as food guides, the black mamba has long poisonous teeth. They are hollow and directly connected to the glands that produce poison. When a bite occurs, poison is injected into the victim's body through the poisonous teeth. Interesting fact The point here is that the black mamba, unlike other poisonous snakes, does not make one bite, but a series, during which it is capable of injecting up to 450 milligrams of poison. The lethal dose for humans is 10-15 milligrams.

One of the main features of the black mamba is the shape of its jaws. If you look at it carefully, it may seem that the reptile is smiling. But this smile does not add to her cuteness. When meeting this creature, you need to be extremely careful. A black mamba bite to the leg area can kill a person in 2 hours, but if it hits a vein, the poison will lead to fatal outcome for a few minutes.

Spine

Since this reptile does not have developed limbs, there are no specific sections in its spine. It has increased flexibility, uniformity and great length. It is noteworthy that the vertebrae are all absolutely identical and the same identical ribs are attached to them. Their number depends on the size of the snake. It is reliably known that the fastest snake can have up to 430 vertebrae. It has no sternum, like other species of snakes. Thanks to this feature, the snake can curl into rings as much as its length allows.

Limbs

Like other species, the limbs of the world's fastest snake are atrophied. However, experts who examined several individuals from different parts of Africa found that the snakes that live in the northern part of the continent have minor rudiments of the pelvic bones. They are more pronounced than in the southern inhabitants.

How does a black mamba move?

The black mamba, like many other species of snakes similar to it, moves in two main ways. The first method is the so-called accordion movement. The reptile gathers its entire body together, then, burying its tail in the surface of the earth, pushes off and thanks to this moves forward. After this movement, she pulls up the back of her body, gathering herself into a ball again.

The second method of movement is moving with a caterpillar. Using this method, the black mamba moves in a straight line and overcomes various crevices. It is noteworthy that it is precisely when moving on a flat, straight surface that it is able to develop its record high speed. When a snake moves in this manner, it uses its ventral scales, sinking them into the ground. When the scales are underground, the reptile uses muscles to move them towards the tail. As a result, the scales are repelled in turn from the surface of the soil and set the snake’s body in motion. According to experts, this method is reminiscent of rowing with oars in its movement of scales.

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