This gallery shows some of our most beautiful and dramatic snake images, selected from the more than 3000 snake species. The unique anatomy of snakes and especially their flexible jaw allows them to swallow extremely large prey - as pythons and anacondas demonstrate! Despite the existence of some extremely venomous species, snakes are commonly considered a good omen and a symbol of wealth and good fortune.Snakes play a powerful role in religion and mythology, often linked to wisdom and intelligence (perhaps due to their unblinking eyes), as guardians of the underworld (since they often live in holes in the ground), and also as symbols of fertility and immortality (their regular shedding of skin being seen as a rebirth). The snake is one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac.

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