Episode 247 – Vipers

Happy Snake Month! Some of the most fascinating, famous, and dangerous snakes on the planet belong to the family Viperidae. Vipers include some of the world’s most specialized ambush hunters, and they are one of the most diverse and successful groups of snakes. This episode, we take a tour through the many visages of vipers, we explore their unique adaptations from head to tail, and we investigate the deep history that led them to their incredible modern success. In the news: colorful crocs, pregnant mussels, tiny migration, and surprising snakes. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:04:45 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:40:25 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:26:15 Patron question: 03:04:40 With the help of our Patrons, we’ll be donating this year to: Save the Snakes https://savethesnakes.org/ The Crocodile Research Coalition https://crocodileresearchcoalition.org/ The Natural Resources Defense Council https://www.nrdc.org/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/ Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0