15 of the world’s rarest snakes: Quick Facts

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Photos

A Saint Lucia racer snake (Erythrolamprus ornatus) with dark patterned scales coiled on mossy rocks.

Ashy morph of the Santa Catalina Rattlesnake (Crotalus catalinensis), a slender pale gray rattlesnake endemic to Isla Santa Catalina, Baja California Sur, with faint body patterning and a triangular head

Wagner Mountain Viper (Montivipera wagneri) moving across a rough rocky surface, its thick body and patterned scales blending with the stones as it crawls forward.

A Vipera anatolica, with a stout body and distinctive zigzag-patterned brown and gray scales lies tightly coiled among green grass.

A slender Clarion Island Whip Snake (Masticophis anthonyi) with a long, narrow body and smooth brownish-gray scales crawls gracefully across sandy ground.

Close-up of a Golden Lancehead (Bothrops insularis), a thick-bodied pit viper with rough, golden-yellow scales and a distinct triangular head with visible heat-sensing pits.

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