While humans have 24 ribs, some snakes can have more than 400, which is what makes them so flexible.

Snakes do not have eyelids, which explains why they never blink. Rather, they have a single transparent scale called a brille that protects their eyes.

The record is held by a viper that swallowed a lizard 1.6 times its own weight. In human terms that would be like a 140-pound person swallowing a 224-pound chunk of meat.

Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during the Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167 million years ago.

The longest fangs of any snake are those of the highly venomous gaboon viper. Not only do they produce more venom than any other snake but they also inject it more deeply--about two inches.

Pelvic spurs are the externally visible portion of the vestigial remnants of legs found on each side of the vent in primitive snakes, such as boas and pythons. The remnants of a pelvis and femur, which have no connection with the spine, simply "float" in the muscle mass.

The blunthead tree snake looks like something straight out of the Disney channel with its long, slender body and its very large head. Its eyes make up approximately 26% of its head.