Q 01/05

Snakes are found on every continent except which one?

A) Antarctica

B) South America

C) Africa

D) Australia

Answer · why

A) Antarctica

Antarctica is the only continent with no snakes; the common adder reaches north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia, but nothing in the order lives on...

Q 02/05

What does a snake do with its forked tongue?

A) Sting its prey

B) Collect scent particles

C) Cool its body

D) Make hissing sounds

Answer · why

B) Collect scent particles

Collect scent particles: that is the job of the forked tongue, which flicks out, picks up chemical traces from air or ground, and delivers them to the...

Q 03/05

The vomeronasal organ in the roof of a snake's mouth is commonly known by which anatomist's name?

A) Corti's

B) Bowman's

C) Jacobson's

D) Lorenzini's

Answer · why

C) Jacobson's

Jacobson's organ is the common name, after the Danish anatomist Ludwig Jacobson, who described it in 1813, although Frederik Ruysch had noted it a cen...

Q 04/05

Instead of movable eyelids, what covers a snake's eyes?

A) Nothing at all

B) A nictitating membrane

C) Thick oily tears

D) A transparent scale

Answer · why

D) A transparent scale

A transparent scale called the brille or spectacle covers each eye; it is shed with the rest of the skin, which is why a snake's eyes turn cloudy befo...

Q 05/05

How does a snake shed its skin?

A) In one complete piece

B) Only from the belly

C) It never sheds

D) In flakes over several weeks

Answer · why

A) In one complete piece

In one complete piece, ideally: the old layer peels back from the snout and comes off like a sock turned inside out, and a healthy adult may shed seve...