What is the average lifespan of a snake? Which place in China has the most snake species?

What is the average lifespan of a snake? This question is more interesting because how long they can live has a lot to do with their body size. Many people say that smaller snakes can only live 2 to 5 years, but this statement is not accurate.

Because it takes 2 to 3 years for most snakes to develop from birth to sexual maturity. If they die before they have time to reproduce, they will be extinct long ago. Where will they appear again? on earth.

Although snakes are cold-blooded animals and have certain requirements for the year-round temperature of their living environment, they will make full use of the environmental characteristics of their habitat. This is why some snakes live directly on the ground, but some snakes Will live in trees, water or caves.

So far, scientists have unearthed snake fossils that are more than 70 million years old. They were originally buried deep in the bottom layer of the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era. It must be hard for you to imagine that the evolutionary history of snakes on the earth has been as long as 130 million years. Even humans who seem to be omnipotent now have only appeared on the earth for a few million years.

Of course, like us humans, snakes also have a so-called average lifespan. The scientific community generally believes that the average lifespan of snakes is about 20 years. As we all know, human lifespan depends first on genes, and then on the impact of the acquired living environment on the individual. The lifespan of snakes is no exception, and the genetic factor that determines the longevity of snakes is actually the size of the species.

Generally speaking, in nature, although the life span of each snake species is different, small snake species will not live longer than large snake species. The former usually live for about 10 years, and then Others can reach 20 to 30 years, or even longer. At the same time, because of the many uncertainties in their natural habitats, snakes raised in captivity tend to live longer than the same species living in nature.

It may be difficult for you to imagine that snakes are a group of animals that are particularly closely related to lizards. There is more and more evidence that snakes are probably derived from lizards, but they are just lizards at that time. A branch followed by degeneration of the limbs and elongation of the body appeared.

Many species that once appeared on the earth have disappeared, but there are at least 3,425 species of snakes on the earth so far, and there are about 241 species of snakes distributed in our country, and this number Still changing over time.

At the same time, snakes are also widely distributed on the earth. As long as they are not in extreme environments such as the Antarctic and the Arctic, some types of snakes are almost always distributed to some extent.

As far as our country is concerned, although snakes are distributed almost all over the country, more snake species live south of the Yangtze River, showing a gradual increase in number and variety from north to south. For example, there are more than 60 species of snakes distributed in Sichuan and Hunan, while there are often no more than 10 species of snakes distributed in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.

Of course, although the number of snake species is huge, there are also problems that some snake species are on the verge of extinction due to environmental changes and human hunting.

For example, the Mangshan branding iron head, known as the giant panda among snakes, is a snake species whose body length can reach 2 meters in adulthood. They also have a name called Mangshan spearhead viper. It is also a venomous snake mainly distributed in Hunan Province. It is a first-level priority protected animal internationally, and Mangshan Mountain in Yizhang County, Hunan Province is even called the kingdom of snakes.

Perhaps for people who have lived in rural areas, it will not be a surprise if a snake suddenly appears. However, although snakes generally have poor eyesight, they can accurately lock their position based on the slightest movement of your feet. Although snakes generally do not attack humans without reason, especially if they feel that their safety is threatened.

We need to know that some snakes will release venom when they bite people, so we must be extra careful when encountering such snakes.

In our country, sea snakes, Zhoushan cobras, sharp-nosed vipers, round-spotted vipers, kraits, king cobras, bungarus, original spearhead vipers, white-lipped bamboo-leaf greens, and white-browed vipers are called China's top ten venomous snakes. Without exception, they are all primary and vicious predators. Not only can their bodies secrete special venom, but their personalities are also very cunning.

Many people mistakenly believe that venomous snakes themselves are poisonous. In fact, the venom of venomous snakes can only work in the blood of the human body. If there is no trauma in a person's mouth, then he can drink the venom of the snake directly. There will be no discomfort. The subsequent reaction after a person is bitten by a venomous snake is also because the venom flowing out of the venomous snake's fangs seeps into the human blood.