Vipers have the fastest strikes, but snakes from other families can give some slower vipers stiff competition.
) — a viper found from eastern Mexico to northern South America that feeds on birds and rodents — came out on top with an average peak velocity of 3.5 meters per second.“They are the ones that have to be able to strike as quickly as possible,” says Alistair Evans, a zoologist at Monash University in Melbourne.
It typically takes mammals between 60 to 400 milliseconds to react and. The new study includes 31 vipers, four snakes from the elapid family , and one colubrid, representing the largest snake family that includes the nonvenomous common garter snake strikes at ballistics gel while cameras measure its position and speed. The snake’s strike, here shown at 3 percent speed, has an average maximum velocity of 2.6 meters per second.), the fastest elapid, jabs toward prey at 2.2 m/s, roughly the same strike speed as some vipers, including the eastern rock rattlesnake , a colubrid not included in the speed analysis, uses its fangs to slash large wounds in its victim. Because Venomworld houses mostly vipers, the study was heavy on those snakes. But there are roughly as many elapid species as vipers, Evans says, and colubrids are even more diverse. Hiding among their ranks could be snakes that give some vipers a run for their money.
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