ENVENOMATIONS - Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities - page 494

Figure 33-2. Comparison of the scales on the undersurface of tails of poisonous and nonpoisonous
snakes
Identification of Venomous Snakes in the Eastern Hemisphere
Vipers ( Viperidae ) have large heads and heavy bodies and tend to resemble pit vipers,
buttheylack thepitsofthecrotalids ( Crotalidae ).Elapids donotatall resemble pitvipers.
Elapids have small heads and thin bodies like the coral snakes, but few have such brilliant
coloring. Except for a few species with distinctive hoods (mostly cobras,) they have an ap-
pearancesimilartomanynonvenomoussnakes.ThevenomoussnakesofAustralia,includ-
ing the innocently named brown snake and the more appropriately named death adder and
tiger snake, are elapids. Many of the venomous snakes of Africa, including the notorious
black mamba, also are elapids. To individuals accustomed to the heavy-bodied American