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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/7/2009
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Location: Inside Farlex computers
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 SnakesSnakes are scaly, cold-blooded, carnivorous reptiles related to lizards. They tend to be limbless and move by muscular contraction. Though they have razor-sharp teeth, they do not chew their prey but instead swallow it whole with the help of a loosely attached jaw. Because their bodies are tubular, some paired organs must be staggered within the body, and one of the two lungs is generally non-functional and sometimes even absent. Why are snakes associated with healing and medicine? More...
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Location: Vilnius, Vilniaus Apskritis, Lithuania
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Authors are technically right: the intoduction states that there are "about" 3,400 species of snakes, and in "distribution" section they assert that there are "over" 2,900 species. Where does such significant margin comes from?
Sincerely - worried Madas.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/23/2011
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Location: Orillia, Ontario, Canada
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An older snake may shed its skin only once or twice a year. But a younger snake, still growing, may shed up to four times a year.[33] The discarded skin gives a perfect imprint of the scale pattern, and it is usually possible to identify the snake if the discarded skin is reasonably intact.[31] This periodic renewal has led to the snake being a symbol of healing and medicine, as pictured in the Rod of Asclepius.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Location: Bogotá, Bogota D.C., Colombia
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Did You Know? A recently discovered fossil snake was 49 feet long, longer than a school bus! http://www.defenders.org/snakes/basic-facts
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Location: Tbilisi, T'bilisi, Georgia
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Some fossil snakes had hind legs, as I have read in some sources. Evolution!
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Rank: Member
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Interesting.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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I don't care how interesting they are as long as they keep a respectful distance from this author.
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