Quote:
|
I read about the finding of venom glands in many species of colubrids on the web (im not sure how reliable the source was), the problem is that most colubrids do not have an effective means of delivering the venom.
|
Venom glands are essentially just modified salivary glands that produce much more potent chemicals. If I recall correctly, the new term for these glands in snakes, including colubrids, is Duvernoy's glands.
Quote:
|
Do you know of any colubrid species that have venom glands?
|
A lot of them do, actually, with varying strengths. Hognose snakes (
Heterodon) have very weak venom, members of genus
Boiga have somewhat nastier venom, and two species, the African Twig snake (
Theletornis) and the boomslang (
Dispholidus typhus), have actually killed healthy adult humans with their bites.
Look up 'rear fanged snakes' (or, more technically, 'opisthoglyphous' snakes) and you should find plenty of information.
I'd also heartily recommend Google Scholar (a sub-search of Google). A quick search can turn up whether or not the species you're interested in has already been worked on or not.
Henry