snake

Introduction & Top Questions
Snakes and humans
Natural history
- Dormant periods
- Interactions between individuals
- Reproduction
  - Mating
  - Egg formation and laying
- Early development and growth
- Molt
- Locomotion
Form and function
- Vertebrae
- The skin
- Coloration
- Skull and sense organs
- Urogenital system
- Specializations for securing food

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

Close-up of a king cobra overlaid with question marks, a drawn crown, and an arrow pointing to the snake

Learn how the predatory pilot black snake strikes, suffocates, and consumes whole its rodent prey

Observe a female black pilot snake hatch a clutch of eggs and a newborn use its egg tooth to hatch

At a Glance

snake summary

Quizzes

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

Deadliest Animals Quiz

Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)

Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

Rattlesnake. A rattle snake coiled on rock. Rattlesnakes are poisonous snakes that have rattles in their tails. Reptile. Possibly mounted or stuffed taxidermy snake.

Vipers, Cobras, and Boas...Oh My!

Related Questions

How are sea snake tails adapted for swimming?
How are viper fangs different from cobra fangs?
How do a snake’s ribs and vertebrae help it move?
How do broad belly scales help snakes crawl?
How do cobras make their hoods?
How do egg-eating snakes break open swallowed eggs?
How do king cobras differ from other cobras?
How do king cobras protect their eggs?
How do serpentine locomotion and sidewinding differ in snakes?
How do snail-eating snakes pull snails out of their shells?
How do snakes move without legs?
How do snakes swallow prey wider than their heads?
How do spitting cobras spray venom toward an animal’s eyes?
How do venomous snakes inject venom into prey?
How does Jacobson’s organ help snakes detect chemicals?
How does an Indian cobra defend itself when threatened?
How does walk feeding work in boas and pythons?
How have Burmese pythons affected mammal populations in the Everglades?
How is the Egyptian cobra connected with ancient Egyptian pharaohs?
How large can Burmese pythons grow?
How many vertebrae can an Australian python have?
What animals do Indian cobras eat?
What are the four main types of snake locomotion?
What do king cobras eat?
What prey does the Egyptian cobra hunt at night?
When did the oldest known fossil snake live?
Where are heat-sensing pits located on pit vipers?
Where do Indian cobras live?
Where was the fossil snake Eophis underwoodi discovered?
Which physical traits distinguish snakes from lizards?
Why are Burmese pythons vulnerable in parts of their native range?
Why are Indian cobras often found near villages and cities?
Why are arboreal snakes long and slender?
Why are snake teeth curved backward?
Why are snakes important predators in many ecosystems?
Why do many nocturnal snakes have vertical slit pupils?
Why do rattlesnakes rattle before striking?
Why do snake charmers appear to make Indian cobras dance?
Why do snakes have no movable eyelids?
Why do some snakes bite prey and then follow it instead of holding on?
How fast do snakes grow?
What is molting in snakes?
Where is the black rat snake commonly found?
What do black rat snakes look like?

Science Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates Reptiles

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External Websites

National Geographic Kids - Awesome 8: Super Snakes
San Diego Zoo Animals and Plants - Snake
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The chemistry of snake venom and its medicinal potential
BMC - BMC Ecology and Evolution - The origin of snakes: revealing the ecology, behavior, and evolutionary history of early snakes using genomics, phenomics, and the fossil record
The Humane Society of the United States - What to do about snakes
A-Z Animals - Snake
Animal Corner - Snakes
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - Snake FAQ
Live Science - Snakes: Facts about one of the most iconic creatures in animal hiss-tory

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

snake - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
snake - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

snake

reptile

Also known as: Serpentes, serpent

Written by

James A. Peters

Curator and Supervisor, Division of Reptiles and Amphibians, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1966–72. Specialist on the taxonomy of snakes. Author of Dictionary...

James A. PetersAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 8, 2026 •History

snake, (suborder Serpentes), any of more than 4,000 species of reptiles distinguished by their limbless condition and greatly elongated body and tail. Classified with lizards in the order Squamata, snakes represent a lizard that, over the course of evolution, has undergone structural reduction, simplification, and loss as well as specialization. All snakes lack external limbs, but not all legless reptiles are snakes. Certain burrowing lizards may have only front or hind limbs or be completely...

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