Humans and non-human primates are extremely sensitive to snakes as exemplified by their ability to detect pictures of snakes more quickly than those of other animals. These findings are consistent with the Snake Detection Theory, which hypothesizes that as predators, snakes were a major source of evolutionary selection that favored expansion of the visual system of primates for rapid snake dete...

Radio tracking of 40 free-ranging eastern brownsnakes (Pseudonaja textilis) in an agricultural landscape in southeastern Australia clarified the spatial ecology of these highly venomous animals. Most snakes over-wintered in burrows within a small area on the bank of an irrigation canal, dispersing into agricultural land during the warmer months. The snakes sheltered overnight in burrows or soil...

As a computational bridge between the high-level a priori knowledge of object shape and the low-level image data, active contours (or snakes) are useful models for the extraction of deformable objects. We propose an approach for manipulating multiple snakes iteratively, called interacting snakes, that minimizes the attraction energy functionals on both contours and enclosed regions of individua...

Many species of snakes use constriction-the act of applying pressure via loops of their trunk-to subdue and kill their prey. Constriction is costly and snakes must therefore constrict their prey just long enough to ensure death. However, it remains unknown how snakes determine when their prey is dead. Here, we demonstrate that boas (Boa constrictor) have the remarkable ability to detect a heart...

Abstract The village of Varāy (Viyar) is located at the foot Āq Dāgh Mountain in southeast Sultaniyya , Iran, and known for its impressive rock-cut architecture called Dash Kasan . history which later became Ilkhanid (Mongol rulers) capital, began with issue an order by Arghūn Khan (1258–1291 CE), to build a huge city enclosed stone walls fortifications. According many field, occupied prominent...