Page 76 - Reptiles & Dinosaurs (Britannica Illustrated Science Library)

73 EPAXIAL MUSCLES
REPTILES AND DINOSAURS The snake seeks the head of the prey to keep it from attacking. Its entire body surrounds its prey in a deadly embrace. Every time the victim breathes, the squeeze tightens. The prey dies of RELAXED Relaxed Epaxial Muscles Ring Formation

SCALES Heat-sensitive Constriction suffocation. EPAXIAL MUSCLES CONTRACTED Contracted Epaxial Muscles Constricting The skin stretches, and the scales

2 separate.
Spinal Column Widest Opening When the prey is dead, the snake releases its grip and begins to feed. It swallows the head first and gradually releases the rest of the body from its coils. The time it takes to eat the prey depends on the animal's size and ranges from a few minutes

Snakes of the boa family (Boidae) have supraorbital and premaxillary bones. to one or two hours. 33 feet (10 m) THE LENGTH TO WHICH A GREEN ANACONDA (Eunectes murinus) CAN GROW

from one another. Their large size makes them heavy and slow moving, so they are
JAWS TEETH interlock. 3
example, both boas and pythons are powerful constrictors, meaning that
category that includes the largest species in the world—the famous anaconda
venom. Although boas and pythons belong to the same category of snakes (a
nakes have developed a wide range of techniques to kill their prey. For
and reticulated python of Africa and Asia), their reproductive systems differ
they kill by asphyxiating their prey rather than poisoning them with
Curved Teeth Smaller to Larger

Flexible Ligament The snake seeks out the head of its victim so that its prey will not be able to fight back. It keeping its victim from escaping. This enables it to suffocate its prey by coiling itself around the prey's body and squeezing (constricting).
easy prey for hunters, who kill them for their hides and meat.

Deadly Embrace

Teeth takes the prey with its curving front teeth,

1

TURTLES AND SNAKES AMAZON TREE BOA Corallus hortulanus South America Trees 7 feet (2 m) 7 feet (2 m) can measure up to 7 feet (2 m) long and lives in trees. Its color blends in with the surrounding foliage, concealing it from predatory birds. Its prehensile tail holds firmly onto branches, while its head hangs down so that it can pounce on passing birds or The dead prey is ingested using the trunk muscles, which move the prey thr

72 S Range Habitat Length Tree Boa mammals.