Unprecedented sharp footage of a venomous snake attack, venom secret revealed

High-speed filming captures every moment of the venomous snake's incredibly precise strike.

In a new study published on October 23, scientists recorded footage of several snake species attacking fake prey, filming from multiple angles with high-resolution images. The videos revealed three ways snakes attack their prey. Photo: Silke GC Cleuren, Alistair Evans, James Rule, David P. Hocking, Anthony Herrel.

Since the early 1950s, scientists have been taking photos and videos of venomous snakes striking their prey. However, these attacks happen so quickly – in just 0.1 seconds – that older cameras are not fast enough to capture all the details. Photo: Mark Kostich/iStock/Getty Images.

Meanwhile, recent field footage of snake attacks is often limited by low resolution and poor lighting. Photo: McDonald Wildlife Photography Inc./The Image Bank/Getty Images.

To better understand how different snakes attack their prey, the researchers went to Venomworld in Paris, France, an animal facility where study co-author Remi Ksas and colleagues routinely extract venom from snakes and scorpions for medical and pharmaceutical purposes. Photo: Silke Cleuren.

Here, the team created fake prey from a muscle-like medical gel and hung it in front of 36 venomous snakes, filming it with multiple high-speed cameras. Photo: Silke Cleuren.

After capturing more than 100 high-speed videos of 36 different snake species attacking fake prey, scientists discovered patterns in how they feed. The videos showed that most vipers bite their target within 0.1 seconds of striking – faster than the startle reaction of most mammals, meaning the prey is unlikely to escape. Photo: Silke Cleuren.

Meanwhile, some cobras, vipers and others take longer than 0.3 seconds to strike their prey. Each snake injects venom into its prey in different ways. Photo: Silke Cleuren.

Vipers, in particular, strike quickly from a coiled position but sometimes fail to choose a good angle of attack. If this happens, they will pull their fangs out of their prey and re-insert them in a more favorable position before injecting venom. Photo: Silke Cleuren.

Meanwhile, cobras often slowly slither closer to their prey to reduce the distance they have to charge. They then loosen their jaws slightly and bite their prey multiple times, "possibly to prolong the time it takes to inject venom into the prey." Photo: Shutterstock/Huy Nguyen Ngoc Xuan.

Scientists say future studies could determine whether prey size has any effect on a snake's ability to attack. Photo: Silke Cleuren.

Readers are invited to watch the video: Discovering many new species in the Mekong River Region. Source: THĐT1.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/canh-ran-doc-tan-cong-sac-net-chua-tung-co-bi-mat-noc-doc-bi-phanh-phui-post2149063300.html