Shades of Green: Earth's Forests -- Reptiles

The well-known venomous pit-vipers range throughout the temperate and tropical Americas, and include the North American rattlesnakes.

Left and below right: Two harmless garden snakes. Photos by Maya Walters.

We tend to associate poisonous snakes with the tropical forest, but many snakes are also found in temperate regions, and many do not have a poisonous bite. They are remarkably successful predators, having adapted to capture and consume prey without the aid of limbs or even any chewing action. Many snakes are even arboreal, managing to climb trees, move from branch to branch, even glide through the forest canopy.

As a group, snakes in the tropical rainforest have a more varied diet than any other group of vertebrate predators.

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