Snakes in the News

New research shows that constrictors kill their prey not by suffocation, but rather more quickly by shutting down blood flow.  Huh.

A candidate proto-snake that still had four small but functional legs has been discovered in an existing fossil collection.  Is it really a snake, or is it merely an offshoot lizard line that ultimately died out?  More research may tell.  ps: more detail at the BBC.