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Poisonous chameleon snake discovered

Thursday, June 29, 2006; Posted: 1:55 a.m. EDT (05:55 GMT)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Researchers scouring swamps in the heart of Borneo island have discovered a venomous species of snake that can change its skin color, the conservation group WWF announced Tuesday.

The ability to change skin color is known in some reptiles, such as the chameleon, but scientists have seen it rarely with snakes and have not yet understood this phenomenon, the group said in a statement.

"I put the reddish-brown snake in a dark bucket," said Mark Auliya, a reptile expert and a consultant for the group. "When I retrieved it a few minutes later, it was almost entirely white."

More...
 
From the article:

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]The WWF, the international group formerly known as World Wildlife Fund, said 361 animal and plant species have been discovered since 1996 on Borneo, underscoring its unparalleled biological diversity.

In related news:

Halliburton announced its plans to clearcut and pave the entire island of Borneo. Vice President (and former Halliburton CEO) **** Cheney had this to say: "These darn snakes can go ahyuk themselves. By living in such a biologically diverse region, these snakes obviously chose to have my company pave over them!"

When asked what purpose would be served by paving over the island, Mr. Cheney replied, "Oh, no purpose... it's just something we like to do."
 
Samuel L. Jackson declined to comment, as the snake was not on a plane.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (SarraceniaScott @ June 29 2006,3:11)]Samuel L. Jackson declined to comment, as the snake was not on a plane.
lol
smile_n_32.gif


sOAP!!
 
Is it April again already?
 
I find a chameleon snake to be stupid.... sure it can change colors but there are thousands of squids that comunicate by flashing and quickly changing colors. Also there is no such thing as a poisonous snake, i believe they mean venemous

-agree with dgrower.

thanks for showing this interesting discovery of a "poisonous snake"
 
  • #10
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Samuel L. Jackson declined to comment, as the snake was not on a plane.

Scrolling through, was going to reply to this later when I read that post.
*clears throat* Ahem.

YEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
laugh.gif
 
  • #11
What, is it time for that venomous vs. poisonous thing again?
 
  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I find a chameleon snake to be stupid.... sure it can change colors but there are thousands of squids that comunicate by flashing and quickly changing colors

It's not a matter of which species does it best, but that the occurence of a trait in multiple groups that are only distantly related means we can glean insights into why and how such a trait evolved in the first place.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Also there is no such thing as a poisonous snake, i believe they mean venemous

Actually, there are poisonous snakes:
Discovery of poisonous (not venomous) snakes

The short version is that these particular garter snakes each newts which secrete tetrodotoxin, and have evolve an immunity. However, it still accumulates in them, possibly to levels that would make the snakes themselves toxic to their predators.

Mokele
 
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