What makes the snake's skin so elastic?
488061
The skin is covered in scales. Most snakes use specialized belly scales to move, gripping surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. Their eyelids are transparent "spectacle" scales which remain permanently closed. They shed their skin periodically. Unlike other reptiles, this is done in one piece, like pulling off a sock. It is thought that the primary purpose of this is to remove external parasites. This periodic renewal has led to the snake being a symbol of healing and medicine, as pictured in the Rod of Asclepius. In "advanced" (Caenophidian) snakes, the broad belly scales and rows of dorsal scales correspond to the vertebrae, allowing scientists to count the vertebrae without dissection. If there is not enough humidity in the air while snakes are shedding their skin, it can be very dangerous for the snake, because the dry skin does not shed. Skin that remains attached to the snake can harbour diseases and parasites. A tail tip that is not removed can constrict as the snake grows, cutting off the blood supply to the end of the tail causing it to drop off. A retained spectacle can cause the snake to become blind in the affected eye.
793786
It is the ability for a liquid to pass through a seemily watertite skin
373291
firstly how do you mean? whilst the skin is still on ther snake, in which case through years of specific breeding probably with albino snakes, this would take a long time and depending on the type of snake yu wish to "decolur" may never be possible as in the case of the candy corn (elapes gutatta gutatta) only the lighter areas of pigmentation are lost the rest become a different colour which is lighter, if yu mean after the snake has shed its skin it sould not have any colour anywat as the skin is shed in scales which only form a hard keratin cap over the coloured part of the scale and are clear when they leave the snake.\n\nI say enjoy snakesin all thier diversity but if you want a white or albino snake talk to a pet shop ower who may be able to offer advi=ce or sell you an decoloured snake
683530
the shell turns into a rubber-like substance eventually
877429
Assuming it's true, then it's probably because of creatures' abilities to adapt to their environments.  Over centuries, evolution and genetic mutations and such allow different species to form, to become most suitable for their habitat.\n\nHowever, I'm a bit doubtful that a snake, a cold-blooded animal, would be able to survive in such a cold region....
638413
The cells in your outer layer of skin absorb water and puff up.
362100
There is such good contact, between fine hairs on the feet of certain animals and the surfaces to which they cling, that van der Waal's forces can hold them firmly. Yet these forces are weak enough to let the animal peel its feet off, to walk or jump etc.\n\nSee for example these articles:\n\nhttp://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1094975.htm\n\n"Spiderman suit should have been hairy\nJulian Cox\nABC Science Online"\n\nand\n\nhttp://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s138473.htm\n\n"Gecko's sticking powers revealed\nFriday, 9 June 2000 \n\nScientists have, for the first time, identified the mechanism allowing geckos to defy gravity and are using the discovery to develop a new type of adhesive.\n\nIn this week's issue of Nature, University of California, Berkeley, biologist Robert Full and colleagues, report that a gecko's foot is covered by almost 500,000 hairs, each ending in spatula shaped structures that collectively create a molecular interaction with the surface....."\n\nMore at those pages.\n\n:-)\n\nPS: G'day from Australia\n\n:-)
212883
Hardening of body tissue.
219522
The answer is a combination of several factors.\n\nThe skin is designed so as to limit "wrinkling" while swimming. (hydrodynamics) If u look at the skin closely, they consist of placoid scales which r smooth in one direction (swimming direction), and rough in the other direction.\n\nSharks r seriously buffed up, which aids in generating work.\n\nFins stabilise the body to prevent it from swimming upside down or in a circle\n\nThey belong to the chondrichthyes... cartilaginous fishes. This skeletal system is lighter than boney frames and allows for greater flexibility. Both characteristics COULD help in swimming. (There r, however, many fast marine animals with boney frames such as the dolphin or swordfish).\n\nThe tail is the main propulsion force. Which works in coordination with it's respiratory and circulatory system. As water passes over the gills, the lamellae r oxygenated, and at the same time release waste products (co2). So, if the shark swims slowly, the respiration rate decreases... and if he doesn't swim at all, he suffocates. I guess sharks swim fast because they have to. Haha. I hope that's helpful.
667063
The phylogeny of snakes is poorly known due to the fact that snake skeletons are typically small and fragile, making fossilization unlikely. It has however been generally agreed, on the basis of morphology, that snakes descended from lizard-like ancestors. Recent research based on genetics and biochemistry confirms this; snakes form a venom clade with several extant lizard families.\n\nRecent fossil evidence suggests that snakes directly evolved from burrowing lizards, either varanids or some other group. An early fossil snake, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum, fully terrestrial. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo, although it also is semi-aquatic. As these ancestors became more subterranean, they lost their limbs and became more streamlined for burrowing. Features such as the transparent, fused eyelids and loss of external ears, according to this hypothesis, evolved to combat subterranean conditions (scratched corneas, dirt in the ears). According to this hypothesis, snakes re-emerged onto the surface of the land much as they are today. Other primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs but lacked a direct connection of the pelvic bones to the vertebrae, including Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis) which are slightly older than Najash.\n\nThe alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests that ancestors were related to mosasaurs — extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous — which in turn are thought to have derived from varanid lizards. Under this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), while the external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment, ultimately leading to an animal similar in appearance to sea snakes of today. In the Late Cretaceous, snakes re-colonized the land much like they are today. Fossil snake remains are known from early Late Cretateous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis, particularly as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina. Similar skull structure; reduced/absent limbs; and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to a positive cladistical correlation, though some features are also shared with varanids. Supposedly similar locomotion for both groups is also used as support for this hypothesis. Genetic studies have indicated that snakes are not especially related to monitor lizards, and (it has been claimed) therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, there is more evidence linking mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmentary remains that have been found from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may eventually refute either hypothesis.\n\nThe great diversity of modern snakes appeared in the Paleocene, probably correlated with the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of the dinosaurs.
986161
i find rattle snakes work exellantly, but the garder snake tend to wiggle too mcuh when they go down.  just dont try taking any water snakes into the pool with you.  and if your really hungry, try a boa
832494
probably one-epidermis.The skin is made up of the following layers, with each layer performing specific functions:\n\nepidermis \ndermis \nfat layer \nepidermis The epidermis is the thin outer layer of the skin. The epidermis itself is made up of three sub-layers: \nstatus corneum (horny layer)\nThis layer contains continually shedding, dead keratinocytes (the primary cell type of the epidermis). The keratin, a protein formed from the dead cells, protects the skin from harmful substances. \nkeratinocytes (squamous cells)\nThis layer contains living keratinocytes (squamous cells), which help provide the skin with what it needs to protect the rest of the body. \nbasal layer\nThe basal layer is the inner layer of the epidermis, containing basal cells. Basal cells continually divide, forming new keratinocytes and replacing the old ones that are shed from the skin's surface. \nThe epidermis also contains melanocytes, which are cells that produce melanin (skin pigment).\n \ndermis The dermis is the middle layer of the skin. The dermis is made up of the following: \nblood vessels \nlymph vessels \nhair follicles \nsweat glands \nThe dermis is held together by a protein called collagen, made by fibroblasts (skin cells that give the skin its strength and resilience). This layer also contains pain and touch receptors.\n \nsubcutis The subcutis is the deepest layer of skin and is also known as the subcutaneous layer. The subcutis, consisting of a network of collagen and fat cells, helps conserve the body's heat while protecting other organs from injury by acting as a "shock absorber."
64960
"First the snake locates the head. All snakes eat their prey headfirst, it makes the swallowing of limbs so much easier. There are occasions where a snake will go tail first, but they are hardly normal.  \n\nAfter locating the head, the cornsnake then begins the process of swallowing. First it opens it's jaw and takes the animal into it's mouth. As this happens, the jaw will continue to expand around the animal until it has eventually covered the entire creature. Once the basics are done and the mouse has started to enter the snake's mouth, it then alternately moves it's jaws forward and to the sides. The snake actually moves one mandible at a time.  \n\nAll of the above are also assisted by powerful jaw and throat muscles, little teeth on the roof of the mouth and glands that secrete salivary juices which moisten the intended food item."\n\n"In a typical lizard we can see the loss of the Jugal bone which frees up the quadrate and allows for a wider swing of the jaw (thus allowing the lizard to swallow larger food items). In snakes, the jugal and the upper temporal has been lost. Note also how the mandibles are no longer connected to each other and can actually move freely of one another (a condition known as: mandibular liberation). The mandibles are only connected through a ligament that stretches between the distal end of each mandible. Along with that, each mandible has a joint midway down it which allows it to bow outwards. By having a stretchy lower jaw rather than a rigid one, snakes are capable of expanding their jaws to accomodate large prey."
117382
As the temperature increases, the stretching of the rubberband will increase. This is because there are intermolecular forces between the fibers of the rubber when it's unstretched. When it's heated, the particles start to vibrate more thus they expand. This causes a decrease in the magnitude of intermolecular forces so it will be easier to pull it now, same as it does in melting. This cause it to be more elastic.
838009
How does the snake's vertebra indicate that it evolved to support slithering? (Answer: Snakes have a large number of vertebrae, which are connected together by ball-and socket joints. These characteristics allow extreme flexibility. Together with specialized muscles, the vertebra enable the snake to move with speed and agility. See ref.)
478094
Yup and mine are danceing on my head\n\nofcourse not\n\nHair consists 90% of a biological polymer, α-keratin, and about 10% water, which modifies its mechanical properties. This α-helically coiled protein is further wound into supermolecular coiled-coil microfibrils, many of which are held together with a protein glue to form long macrofibrils, which are packed inside dead hair cells about 100 µm long by 3 µm across. Several of these associate to form one strand of hair, which is covered with tiny surface scales. The ends of individual keratin chains are high in the amino acids proline (an α-helix breaker) and cysteine. Adjacent keratin chains are held together by many disulfide bonds bridging their cysteines. These links are very robust; virtually intact hair has been recovered from ancient Egyptian tombs. Different parts of the hair have different cysteine levels, leading to harder or softer material.
252450
A SNAKE!!!!!\ni win win!!!!!!