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Elapids are proteroglyphs, or ankylopropglyphs, meaning they possess
fixed, hollow
fangs at the front of their upper jaw (maxilla) that cannot be folded against the roof of their mouth. The fangs lie at the front of a relatively long maxillary bone and connect at the base to a duct. The duct leads to the venom gland, which is behind the eye (Cogger 1992; White 1981). The maxillary bones move relatively little during biting, and the fixed fangs remain erect even when the snake's mouth is shut. Venom is manufactured and stored in oral glands, which consist of thick connective tissue surrounding a lumen. Secretory epethelium line the lumen. Venom is secreted through a duct connecting to a single fang upon contraction of a separate compressor glanulae muscle. The compressor muscle is attached to the outer sheath of each venom gland. Fangs last 6-10 weeks and replacement fangs are located behind functional fang. Because of the unique physiology of the mouth of the family Elapidae, typically prey are siezed and held until it has been immobilized by venom. The only exception to the pattern are the Death Adders, which have a more moveable maxilla than other elapids, though not as movable as that of the Viperidae (Greene 1997). An elapid skull is displayed on the left. |
| Image copyright Shine, 1991. |
Click here to see a digram of the architecture of the Elapid mouth.
This page is an assignment for Biology 312, Animal Physiology, and is
for educational purposes only.
email me: schutchins@davidson.edu