SciShow Tangents

Snakes

Episode Summary

Snakes get a bad rap. Sure they’re slithery, venomous, silent killers… but they have some nice qualities, too! We don’t talk about many of those nice qualities in this episode, but they do exist.

Episode Notes

Snakes get a bad rap. Sure they’re slithery, venomous, silent killers… but they have some nice qualities, too! We don’t talk about many of those nice qualities in this episode, but they do exist. 

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[Trivia Question]

Gliding snakes jumping or not

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21816808/

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep44950

[Fact Off]

Kukuri snakes disembowel

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/639331

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/881934

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mvmk_PDzKw

https://snakesarelong.blogspot.com/2012/06/snakes-that-chew-their-food.html

Python heart growing and shrinking

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16002308/

https://www.nature.com/articles/434037a?proof=t

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/python-heart-food-news-animals

https://cob.silverchair-cdn.com/cob/content_public/journal/jeb/211/24/10.1242_jeb.023754/3/3767.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3383835/

https://www.livescience.com/16764-python-hearts-treat-human-cardiac-disease.html

[Ask the Science Couch]

Snake locomotion

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDDha9MxIDob8lOcy8UMC1g/videos

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7391877/

https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/221/4/jeb166199/33944/Crawling-without-wiggling-muscular-mechanisms-and

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180112132922.htm  

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/invasive-brown-tree-snakes-stun-scientists-amazing-new-climbing-tactic-180976728/

[Butt One More Thing]

Snake cloaca “farting”

https://www.cabi.org/isc/FullTextPDF/2006/20063121845.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1565572.pdf?casa_token=hasRmCpaVigAAAAA:PfR7INW6TS-UeKo3iImOG4qx-AI1nj82C6GvjKI0k8TRFtFv7VhADtbPnZZWEkU47AlmGJrFMF8b5Mk8P8MaAhfg6vdE6w5NqDhgil_8fyqYwzIDZA